Mai's The One
by SpiritedChild
Summary: SPR has been put on the case at the old Guilded Rose Inn where the ghosts of three young men have been following around the young ladies. What happens when they all target Mai? Naru/Mai pairing. One sided Masako/Naru. Masako/John. Ayako/Bou
1. NEW CASE

**AFTER POSTING MY GHOST HUNT ONE SHOT, IN THE MOMENT, I DECIDED THAT I WANTED TO WRITE A LONGER ONE. I'M NOT SURE AT ALL WHAT I WANT TO WRITE ABOUT. ALL I'M SURE ON IS I WANT IT TO BE ROMANTIC AND ADVENTUROUS. I HOPE EVERYONE ENJOYS.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.**

Mai's POV:

_~PREFACE~_

_Fear. Did the word fear even cover what I was feeling at this very moment? I watched the ghostly, transparent figure walk across the room. The closer they came the more I could make out their features. It was a boy. He looked to be close to my age. His eyes were dancing, a small smile played on his lips. His warm smile almost made my fear vanish. He walked right up to me and stopped a few inches from my face. I could feel cold air being breathed on my face. The boy closed his eyes, as if in prayer, then leaned forward to...KISS ME?_

_-Chapter 1-_

"Mai! Tea!" Naru, my young, narcissistic boss shouted.

Sighing, I sat aside the file I was about to look through and stood up. "Anyone else want tea?"

"Bou san, Ayako, John san, Masako, and Hasuhara all agreed. Even Lin san made a small grunt from his office, telling me to count him in.

After making the rich herbal tea, I passed out the cups to the ones sitting in the couches, dropped off Lin san's cup, and left Naru's for last. Mostly to spite him for never asking for his tea nicely. I knocked on his office door.

"Come in."

Opening the door, I saw that Naru was reading a thick volume. As I sat the tea on his desk, I saw that the title was in a different language. "Anything else?"

He shook his head no slightly but before I could turn around, he shut the book and looked at me expectantly. "Did you look over that new case file?"

"I was about to when you asked for more tea."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "I gave that file to you over two hours ago. Is the case worth SPR's time or not?" He dropped his hand and opened his eyes, clearly annoyed.

"I would have had time to look it over if you hadn't loaded me down with an insane ammount of paperwork to file away. Also, do you know that you've asked for seven cups of tea in the past couple hours? I really question the size of your bladder sometimes."

"Don't be such an idiot. If you're not going to look over the file, give it to me to look over."

Furious, I stomped out of his office and grabbed the file off my desk. I stomped back into his office and slammed the file on his desk. "There! Happy?"

"Get back to work." He said, putting on a pair of thin, black rimmed glasses and opening the file.

I looked at him, confused. "I didn't know you wore glasses."

He took them off quickly. "I don't. Lin thinks I need them and he says I have to wear them if I read small print."

"But you read all those books just fine without glasses."

"I buy all my books in large print. Also Lin's stipulation. I thought I told you to get back to work."

I sighed at his rudeness before leaving his office in a huff. But not before commiting the picture of Naru wearing glasses to memory. I hated to admit how handsome he was to begin with and he looked even cuter with glasses. Bou san looked at me with a confused expression.

"What were you two fighting about? By the sounds of it, I thought you were about to kill Naru."

"The jerk always puts too much work on my desk and he still expects me to look over all his stupid case files."

"Ya, he can be a bit of a slave driver." Bou san laughed a loud, chest rumbling laugh.

"I can hear you, you know?" Naru said from his office and we both laughed.

"Ya, we know." Bou san yelled back.

"Such children..." Masako whispered, her kimono sleeve covering her mouth.

"Don't be such a downer Masako." Ayako said. "You're young yourself. You need to stop acting like an old coot."

"Like you are?" She bit back.

Ayako blushed bright red. "I'm not old. I'm quite young I'll have you know."

Naru suddenly opened his door. He had put back on the glasses and was still looking at the file. At the sight of Naru in glasses, everyone had to blink twice. I saw that Masako had turned a delicate shade of pink at the sight but no one said a word. "I think SPR has our next case. Is their anyone interested in joining us? It'll be a good one by the looks of it." As Naru spoke, Lin san came out of his office.

"What's it all about?" John san asked.

"There's been some...strange hauntings going on at a traditional inn in the next town."

"By strange?" Bou san asked.

"The attatched letter says...

_Dear SPR,_

_The Guilded Rose Inn has been in our family for generations but these hauntings have only started very reciently. There hasn't been any change to the inn so we're not sure what could have caused the ghosts to begin appearing. From what we can tell, there are three ghosts here. Three boys. One appears to be in his early twenties, one appears to be around eighteen and one appears to be around fifteen or sixteen. The ghosts havn't done any harm to any of us or the inn guests but they have been causing slight panic and fear by appearing in the guest's rooms. The ghosts seem to be expecially drawn to the young females that inhabit the inn. Our seventeen year old daughter is no exception. Mostly, the ghosts will just watch the ladies. They follow them around, and they've even been known to pick up something for the ladies if they drop it or open doors for them. We're sure they mean no harm but their presence is hurting business. Please help us. _

_Thank you, _

_Mr. and Mrs. Bara_

Everyone was silent as they took in the statement letter. Even I had to admit that it sounded like a great and interesting case. And judging from the way the ghosts behave, it would be a very low risk case. No one would get hurt and we could solve it in peace. We might even be able to converse with the ghosts ourselves and ask them why they're there. After much talk, we all agreed to help with the case. Naru called in and booked three rooms for us. One room for the girls sleeping quarters, one for the boy's sleeping quarters, and one for the base to set up the moniters. Since Masako and I, both young ladies, would be on the case, the girl's room would be filled with sound devices and a camera off to the side.

"I'm sorry girls if it feels like we're invading your privacy but it must be done." Naru said firmly after listening to Ayako complain for fifteen minutes straight on the matter. "Now everyone should go home and get packed. Go to bed at a decient hour cause we're all meeting here at eight o'clock sharp tomarrow morning and driving over to the inn. Mai and Lin, please arrive half an hour early to help load the van with equipment.

"Hai." A said half enthusiastically at the idea of getting up earlier than I had to while Lin san just grunted in acceptance. That man really needs to use more than one sylable when he talks.

I walked home quickly and got ready for bed immediantly. I didn't think I was going to be able to get to bed this early but I proved myself wrong by passing out the second my head hit the pillow.


	2. INVESTIGATION

**I'M SORRY THAT THE FIRST CHAPTER WAS SO SHORT. JUST AS I WAS WRITING THE STORY, MY COMPUTER EXPERIENCED TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. REALLY BAD TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. I'M CONTINUING MY WRITING FOR THIS STORY ON MY DAD'S COMPUTER BUT I WON'T BE ABLE TO UPDATE ANY OF MY OTHER STORIES. PLEASE ENJOY THE NEXT CHAPTER OF MAI'S THE ONE.**

Mai's POV:

Just as my slave driving boss had requested, I had arrived at Shibuya Psycic Research half an hour before departure time. I had helped Lin san load the van while Naru read the novel he had been reading yesterday evening, then made sure my suitcase was properly put in the back with the equipment.

"Ready to go." I said as the rest of the people going on the trip arrived. Lin opted to drive the equipment van and Bou san opted to drive his car. Naru, Masako, and myself would ride in the van with Lin san while Ayako, Yasuhara, and John san would ride with Bou san.

Masako sat by the right window, claiming she had to be close to fresh air or her poor little lungs would give into claustraphobia and she made sure Naru sat in the middle. I sat on his other side, sighing at Masako's dramatics. As soon as we began the trip, Masako rolled down her window and pretended to swoon, leaning her head on Naru who stared in the other direction with a look of awkward annoyance on his face.

To say it was the longet car trip I ever endured would be a big understatement. When we finally began ascending the hill that led to the Guilded Rose Inn, I was just begging in my mind to let Masako fall ill and be sent home early. I don't think I could stand being here with her for however long it took to solve this case. We all got out of the cars at the top of the hill and came into the inn that was a mix of traditional and new western.

We all made our way inside. At the front desk, there was a woman that looked to be in her fifties or so. "Konnichiwa. Welcome to the Guilded Rose Inn. Can I help you?"

Naru stepped forward and shook the woman's outreached hand. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Kazuya Shibuya from Kazuya Psycic Research. We called yesterday to reserve three rooms to help with the case."

Recognition shone in her eyes. She looked a bit shocked, most likely becase of how young Naru was, and she spoke in a whisper. "Thank goodness you're here. I'm Aniya Bara. I'll show you where your rooms are right away."

The woman led us up some stairs to the second floor and to a western door. She unlocked it. On the inside was a nice living room with three sets of sliding screen doors. It was a lot nicer than I had expected. Mrs. Bara led the way. "These doors lead to the girl's bedroom. These doors to the boy's bedroom. These doors to your base. Each bedroom has a bathroom in it."

"This will do nicely. We all thank you greatly." Naru bowed at saw her to the door. As soon as she had shut it, Naru's gracious behavior left him. "Mai, Lin. Unpack the van. As soon as they finish that, I want Takigawa and Matsuzaki to put up the cameras with the sound systems built in. One in all the public areas, one in all the vacant rooms, one in this living room, and one in the girls room."

Lin san and I were heading for the door when Naru spoke again. "Oh and Mai?"

"Ya Naru?"

"As soon as you finish putting up the monitors in the base, make me some tea."

I sighed. "Ya ya. Whatever."

It had been an hour and as everything was said and done, I handed Naru his tea. A knock came at the door. Lin opened it and let in Mrs. Bara, a man, and a girl around my age. "Hello. I'm Akito Bara and this is my wife Aniya and my daughter Yumi. We're so greatful you could all come on such short notice. You must be Mr. Shibuya." He reached forward to shake Lin's hand but Naru stepped in front of him and took Mr. Bara's hand.

"I'm Kazuya Shibuya."

The old man blinked with confusion. "But you're so young..."

"Naru is wise beyond his years. He's very distinguished." Ayako defended politely.

"And conceited." I mumbled under my breath.

The man looked like he was second guessing his decision to ask SPR to handle the case but he looked at all the adults in the group and seemingly decided to let it go. "I've been told by my wife that you've set up cameras."

"Yes. In all the public and vacant rooms. They've been hidden in the public rooms very discreetly so as to not overwhelm your guests."

"And what will the cameras do?"

"They're infared cameras that pick up not only actual images but also changes in temperature. They'll let us know which rooms the paranormal activity are in."

"How long do you think it will take you to get the ghosts out?"

"With us we have a team of elite paranormal experts. It should take us no more than a few days."

"I should hope so. It's been getting so cold lately and I've been told it might snow in a week. Enough snow to snow in the guests."

"I'm almost possitive that we'll be gone before then. But thank you for your concern." Naru bowed his head.

It was then that I noticed the teenage girl. She was staring at Naru with wide, Masako like eyes. It came as no suprise that she would be taken with Naru so quickly. He was obsurdly handsome and despite his rude behavior to almost everyone he somehow was still charming. Naru caught the girl staring at him and purposely avoided her eyes. We said goodbye to the Bara family and as soon as they left, we put our names on pieces of paper and drew from a hat to find out who would be in the base watching the monitors at what times.

It was already noon. During the day, the cameras would be put on auto and we would hear the monitors beep if there was strange activity. At seven in the evening, when the sun set, we would begin our constant watch. They always do say that ghosts are most active at night. Ayako and Yasuhara were drawn for watching the monitors from seven till ten, John san and Masako were drawn to watch the monitors from ten till one in the morning. Bou san and Lin san were chosen to watch from one in the morning till four, and Naru and I were drawn to watch from four till everyone was supposed to officially get up to begin work at seven.

You could tell that no one was very happy with their pairings. The idea of being shut in a room with Naru for three hours, making him tea while he ignored the monitors and read a book, wasn't pleasant at all. Naru, who had wrote everyone's names on the dry erase board he had sat up in the base and when their shifts were, dismissed us, saying we were free to look around the hotel and get a feel for the area. The base wasn't a room suite. It was a room with a little kitchenette, a table with eight chairs, a bench to the side, and plenty of space along the far wall that we used to set up the monitors and such.

The idea of seven hours, totally to myself to goof off was a nice idea. As if Naru had read my thoughts, he shut the book he had began to read. "And if you think that this time is given to you so you can goof off and run around the hotel, think again. I want you to use the seven hours to do a little private investigation. Don't disturb the guests by speaking to them unless they speak to you first."

"So you're sending us to do the dirty work while you sit there reading a book?" I accused. The time I had accused him of always having others do stuff for him and him using his powers and getting himself in the hospital came to mind. Biting my lip, I instantly regretted the snub.

I was both suprised and unsuprised to watch him set down his book and stand up. "I'll be doing my own investigation work just like everyone else." I expected him to look angry or at the very least, annoyed. What I didn't expect however was for him to look and me and smile genuinely. "I wouldn't want to be accused of hiding behind others now would I?" Inspite of the smile, his words held a small edge.

Naru opened the door and let everyone else out first before shutting the door behind himself. Lin san opted to stay at the base and watch over the monitors anyway. Everyone had scattered and Naru and I were walking alone towards the stairs.

"Hey Naru?" I said, stopping and looking at my feet.

"Yes Mai?" He stopped beside me.

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything. I know you work. I'm sorry."

"Thank you but my feelings weren't hurt at all. And as for your apology, I accept it." He smiled again but there was a way too prominent smirk playing on his lips.

"Well alright then. Now that we have that settled..." I walked ahead, about to make my investigation when Naru grabbed my arm, bringing me to a hault.

"Mai, the investigation I'm doing will maybe require some help. Are you interested?"

I blinked twice. Did Naru the narcissist actually just ask me for help? He always uses the help of others but he never straight out says he needs help. "Um, sure. What kind of investigation are you doing?"

"I'm going to interview the guests and you've always been good at writing down what they say quickly. Then after the interviews, I'm going to explore the public and vacant rooms where the monitors pick up the most readings."

We started walking again, down the stairs and to the main downstairs sitting room. There was a young woman playing the piano, a few girls sitting, drinking tea, a couple gentlemen having a smoke, and a child playing with her doll. Naru took a notepad and a pen from his pocket and handed them to me. He approached the woman playing the piano.

For a while, we just watched her play. When the song was complete, Naru put on one of his charming but totally fake smiles and clapped his hands a few times. "That was beautiful Miss."

She blushed and stared at Naru the way the Innkeeper's daughter had. "Thank you. Are you a guest here too?"

I am. My name is Kazuya Shibuya and this is my sister Mai." I almost blanched. Sister? "And you are?"

"Monomo Sato."

"It's wonderful to meet you Monomo san. What do you think of the hotel so far?"

Still in awe that someone like Naru would even speak to her, she just stared and told him like she'd say anything at all. "I like it I suppose. Actually, to be honest, it's a bit creepy. This is the hotel my family always stays at when we're in town."

"Why do you say creepy?"

"Well..." she looked around and looked at us carefully. "Do you know that the hotel is haunted? Ghosts are here."

"Is it? I didn't." He pretended to shiver.

"Ya. Three boys. They stalk the girls. I've been told by another girl who stayed here that she saw one of them. He popped up in her room during the night and just stared at her. Like he was trying to figure something out. He disapeared after the mother came to check on her."

I wrote down everything the girl said and looked to Naru for his next question.

"That's must have been terrifying." He said.

"I bet. I've never seen the ghosts but I heard that there's a specific room that they like exspecially. The hotel won't even rent the room out cause no one will use it that knows of the hauntings. And lately that's everyone. The people that are here stay here either cause it's tradition for them to stay here like for my family or because they're drawn to the mystery of the hauntings."

"Do you know which room Monomo san?"

"I think it's room C8. On the third floor."

Naru looked at his watch. "Mother is probably expecting us both for lunch. We should go. It was wonderful talking with you. I hope to see you soon." He winked and held her hand for a moment before leaving her in a daze. We made our way out of the sitting room and started heading for the stairs.

"Where to next?" I asked.

"Room C8. I'd like to have a little look to see just how haunted it really is."


	3. NARU ACTS STRANGE

**HOPE YOU ENJOY THE NEXT CHAPTER. I KNOW I ENJOY WRITING THEM. DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. ENJOY.**

Mai's POV:

Within a few minutes, Naru and I found ourselves standing outside the vacant room C8 with a key Mrs. Bara had given us that opens all the doors. Unlocking it, we stepped inside. Naru flicked on the light. It looked like any regular hotel room. It was a very spacious room. It could have easily fit three beds. Maybe four. But there was only one full size bed with some random furniture. It had a camera in it that was set up by us.

"Doesn't look haunted." I said, picking up an empty glass someone have left on the table beside the door then sitting it back down.

"Most rooms don't look haunted during the daytime." He walked over to the windows and pulled back the drapes. He shut the main door and turned off the lights. "Since the sun won't be going down for almost another six hours, we'll have to simulate the night."

Naru pulled out a candle from his pocket and a small thing of matches. I stared at his black trench coat jacket. "Why do you put a bunch of random things in your jacket?"

"I only put what I think I might need." He sat the candle on a table in the middle of the room and lit it. The candle shone on the walls and gave the room an eerie look. He stared at the candle in silence.

"Now what?"

"Now we wait." He said, not taking his eyes off the candle.

"Wait for what?"

"A sign."

"What kind of sign?"

He sighed. "Just a sign. Movement of something in the room. A whisper in the air. A full on seonce."

"And how long do you think it's going to take?"

"It could take anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours. If they plan on showing themselves at all."

"If? This is pointless."

"No. You're just bored."

"Well, you're right. You wouldn't happen to have a tv somewhere in that jacket would you?"

He ignored my joke and looked around the room before looking back at the candle. The candle suddenly flickered as if someone had tried to blow it out. We both froze and kept our focus on the candle. The candle flickered again before completely going out. The smoke from the candle begun to move of its own accord. The smoke moved to the ground beside the table, morphing and taking shape. The faint outline of what could be nothing other than a ghost came to view.

It took more shape and a man in his early twenties formed. He had dark brown hair and deep, dark eyes. The young man looked back and forth between me and Naru before settling his eyes on me. He looked...fascinated. He smiled brightly and begun to reach out a hand towards me. Naru put his arm in front of me and made me step back, away from the ghost. The ghost now looked offended. He looked at Naru and shot him the most hateful look I've ever seen in my whole life before disapearing in a puff of smoke.

It was only after the smoke settled that I realized I was shaking. Naru dropped his hand. "You alright?" he asked. "You're shaking."

"I'm fine. I think. Why was the ghost reaching for me."

"I don't know. Could be for any number of reasons. But he didn't look like he was going to hurt you. He just looked...curious." He said the last word like he wanted to say a different word.

"If you didn't think he was going to hurt me, why did you move me back?"

He looked away, ignoring my question, and put the candle back in his jacket pocket. "We should head back to the base. Tell everyone what we saw."

When we arrived back at the base, everyone was lounging on the couches and chairs, talking animatedly. "There you two are. Where've you been?" Ayako asked.

"In room C8. It's been said that the most paranormal activity is in this room and they weren't wrong."

"Could you sense it?" Bou san asked.

"Worse. We saw a ghost." I said.

"No way! Tell us about it!" Ayako said, looking anxious.

"Naru made the room dark and lit a candle and the ghost blew out the candle and made itself form from the smoke. It was a man in his early twenties."

"What else happened?" John san asked.

I looked at Naru for his imput. "The ghost tried to grab Mai so I pulled her back. Then he disapeared."

"We should watch the footage of the room." Ayako suggested and everyone but Naru and me left for the base. After a few seconds, we followed. The camera had caught it all. The camera had been facing our backs and had even gotten the ghost's facial expressions. After the ghost disapeared, Bousan paused the video and laughed.

"That ghost doesn't look very happy with you Naru."

Ayako laughed too. "I know. He was shooting daggers at you for pulling Mai away." Ayako then pressed play again.

Naru turned to me and asked if I was okay in the video like he did earlier and I said I was. After I asked him why he pulled me back if he didn't think the ghost meant harm, he turned away from the camera to put up the candle. When he walked past me and the camera to head for the door, there was a strange look on his face that I've never seen on Naru before.

I looked away from the screen to find Naru looking down, hiding his eyes in his bangs. "Alright. Has everyone eaten lunch?"

Everyone said they had. Lin san was currently munching on a bowl of chicken and rice he had ordered from room service. That left Naru and me. "I guess we should both go eat something." I realized how hungry I felt then.

Naru nodded in silent agreement and we both left the suite and headed downstairs. Off to the side was a set of double glass doors that led to a dining room. Naru walked over to the man at a podeum right inside the doors. "Table for two please."

"Right away." The man pulled out two menus from under the podium and led us to a back table against the far wall. It was very busy and the main tables were taken. "We should have someone to take your drink orders in a few minutes."

The man left and I fiddled with my bracelet, looking at Naru from under my lashes. He had his arms folded on top of the table, looking into the distance. I was almost didn't want to break his peaceful trance. Almost. "So you never answered my question."

"And what question is that?"

"I asked you earlier. If you didn't think the ghost meant me harm, why did you push me back so suddenly?"

He continued to look into the distance but I could tell by his eyes that he was secretly calculating. "You can never be too careful..." He said finally. "Things aren't always as they appear..."

"You're lying." I blurted. That broke his concentration. He looked at my with harsh, incredulous eyes.

"What do you mean?" He whispered dangerously. Defensively.

"You're lying." I said, feeling a little weighed down by his stare. "I can tell when you lie Naru. I've known you long enough. You always pinch your lips together and avert your eyes from what you're looking at."

He stared at me with wide eyes, totally floored. When a middle aged waitress came by our table, he regained his cool and smiled at her politely. "I'll have a hot herbal tea and she'll will have a hot lemon tea." The waitress wrote the orders and left.

"You ordered for me?" 

He shrugged. "I know what you like."

"Do you now?"

"SPR always goes to dinner together and you always order a hot lemon tea to drink. Like me, you tend to stay on the same path when it comes to what you drink or eat."

"Like you?"

He was silent again. He proped his elbows and leaned his chin on folded hands, looking at me with calculating eyes. "When we were face to face with the ghost, you didn't look scared at first. When the ghost started reaching for you, it almost looked like you were about to reach back."

"It did?" I tried to remember back but all I could remember was awe, then shaking afterwards.

He nodded and smiled to the side as the waitress came back with our drinks. She sat them down. "Are you both ready to order?"

Naru picked up a menu from the table and handed it to me, looking expectantly. "I'll take a bowl of soba noodles with a side of tso chicken."

"I'll take the same." Naru said before handing our menus over.

"Coming right up."

As soon as the waitress was out of earshot, Naru looked back at me with the same calculating eyes. "Yes, you did."

"I don't know why I did...I don't even remember doing it..." He seemed to accept my answer.

"The look on his face when he saw you was very strange..." Naru said. He looked to the side, he moved the proped hands he was leaning on to cover his mouth. "...he almost looked like he recognized you."

"Recognized me?"

I shook his head. "I may be wrong. Don't take my word on it."

He kept his folded hands at mouth level, casting his eyes down on the table. He sighed and dropped his hands to the table, clasping them tightly. A little suprised at him showing emotion so openly, I reached a hand out, touching one of his. "Are you ok?"

He pulled his hands back a little. "Yes, I'm fine." I saw his eyes flicker towards the table ten or so feet from ours. There was a group of guys there and all of them was looking over at us. They all wore dingy, dirty clothes, like they've been backpacking. One of them saw me looking and winked. Which caused another one to notice and he flicked out his tongue real quick before smiling like he was all that. I gave him a look of disgust and looked towards the wall.

"Ew..." I whispered. I looked at Naru out of the corner of my eye. He looked extremely irritated. He was gripping his hands together so tight, his knuckles were white. I reached back out, putting a hand on top of both of his. He relaxed his hands but the irritation looked like it wasn't leaving. It made me wonder why he was so irritated. Did he really not like any boys flirting with me. It dawned on me then that the ghost looked like he was drawn to me. In awe. Did Naru not even like dead boys to like me? Either he didn't like me dating at all because he was just mean or...

"Here's your food kids. Sorry it took so long. Busy day and all."

"It's alright." Naru assured her. She left and we both ate in silence.

"Naru?" I said after a while.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Why are you so jellous of other boys liking me?" There. I said it. That wasn't so hard. Alright, it was. It took me ten minutes just to form the question properly and another five to get up the guts to say it.

His chopsticks froze and he looked at his bowl in silence.

"Please...just answer the question...you've got me so confused lately..."

When he looked up, he guard was completely down. He stared at me with wide, confused eyes. "I don't know..."

I felt a stab of panic. Why was Naru acting like this? It was so...not him. I watched Naru's hands begin to shake as he stared at his food with a look of anger and confusion. Anger at himself I think. I covered one of his hands and he snapped his head up, jerking away. The emotionless guard was back.

"Are you okay Naru?"

"I'm fine." I said with a cutting voice. "Hurry and eat, it's already almost three."

We ate in awkward silence before heading back to the room. Naru shut himself up in the base, evening asking Lin san to leave him be. Confused, Lin san sat with the rest of us.

"What happened at lunch?" Bou san asked.

"I'm not sure. There was some kids being really obnoxious at lunch but that's it..." I lied.

"Naru's never been one to have patience with people like that." Ayako said.

"She's right for once." Masako said from behind her kimono sleeve. "People such as Naru and myself have no patience for obnoxious children. Exspecially the older people who act like obnoxious children."

I felt the intense urge to hit Masako but I drowned it out with thoughts of what Naru and I might talk about when we watched the monitors together in the early morning. I spent the remainder of my free time trying to search the computer in the base used for internet. Naru wasn't happy when I just walked in, announcing I was using it. "You can't use the public rooms for your own private rooms Naru." I said when he looked like he might protest. I ended up finding an interesting article called the _The Hiragana Farmhouse Deaths_.

It turns out that before this was a hotel, it was a farmhouse owned by the Hiragana family. The Hiraganas had three sons. Yuki, Chenyo, and the youngest, Kyou. All three of them died of illnesses with symtoms similar to food poisoning on the same night. The eldest one was twenty-two when he died, the second eldest was eighteen, and the youngest was sixteen. When the children had died, the mother and father couldn't stand the idea of their children being dead and they sold the farmhouse to the great grandfather of the Mr. Bara we know who turned it into a hotel.

The ghosts of the boys never showed themselves to anyone until reciently so it makes we wonder what could have changed since their deaths to cause them to haunt the place. I felt warm air blow on my neck and I almost screamed until I noticed it was Naru. He had been reading over my shoulder. "Mai, print that article. I want to show it to everyone."

Clicking the print button, I tried to stand up but Naru put both hands on my shoulders and had me sit. "What?" I asked.

"Click that link."

"What link?" I asked.

"The one that says, Theories Behind the Hiragana Farmhouse Deaths."


	4. DREAMS

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! :) AND IF YOU'RE WANDERING, YES I NOW AM AWARE OF A FEW SPELLING ERRORS AND CALLING IT KAZUYA PSYCIC RESEARCH BY MISTAKE. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE NEXT CHAPTER. THIS ONE IS GONNA BE VERY NARUMAI RELATED. ENJOY.**

Mai's POV:

_"Click that link."_

_"What link?" I asked._

_"The one that says, Theories Behind the Hiragana Farmhouse Deaths."_

Clicking the link, it took us to another article. Reading through it, none of the theories sounded likely. Three theories were remotely possible. One was that the parents had killed their sons. One was that it was truely an accidental case of extreme food poisoning. And the final theory was that one of the brothers had poisoned the other two then poisoned himself. Naru had me make a copy of that too to print.

After we had talked with everyone about the articles, it was already late and the shifts had started. I probably should get to bed. I put on my pajamas in the girl's bathroom and got right into bed. I would need sleep since I have to get up at four for my shift with Naru. I laid in bed for a long time, staring at the camera that was set up in the corner. I had to agree with Ayako. It was an invasion of privacy.

Eventually, I was able to sleep, but my dreams were far from normal. In my dream, I was in the hotel's third floor hallway. It was night and all the lights were off. I slowly made my way to room C8. When I opened the door, Naru was already there. He turned to face me and smiled one of those genuine smiles.

"I thought you wouldn't come." He whispered. "Did anyone follow you?"

"No. I don't think so." He opened his arms and I shut the door before I ran into them. "I wish we didn't have to keep this a secret Naru."

"Me either...but if my brothers found out, what would we do? I couldn't stand for anyone else to have you..."

I blushed as Naru leaned in to kiss me. But before he could, I felt myself being shook awake. "Mai. It's your shift." It was Bou san shaking me awake.

I yawned sleepily and crawled out of bed, slipping a robe over my pj set. As tired as I was, I somehow made it to the base and found a seat. I shook my head as I was about to fall asleep and stood up. "Would you like some tea? If I don't have any, I'll be out cold."

Naru nodded and stared silently at the monitors. The book I was possitive he'd be reading was nowhere to be seen. I tried to busy myself with the tea and forget the dream. I can't even believe I dreamt that...I almost kissed Naru. It was a dream but still...I almost kissed Naru! I finished the tea and brought it out. I took a sip of mine before looking at Naru who was closing his eyes in contentment while drinking the tea.

"You like my tea?" I asked, holding back a laugh.

"It's better than the restaraunt's tea." He said, opening his eyes and setting the cup on the dining table behind him.

It had been maybe an hour of us watching the monitors and me making a few cups of tea and we hadn't spoken. I found myself disapointed. I thought this was going to be a good time for Naru and me to fill in all the blanks that were formed during lunch yesterday. A little fed up with the silence, I broke it. "So... anything new on the monitors?"

"You should be watching them."

I sighed. "I am. I'm just trying to make conversation."

He smiled a small smile then took another sip of tea. "Alright. Then try being more creative."

"Fine. What did you dream about last night?" I blurted out without thinking.

He looked at me, a little confused but then smirked. "Why do you want to know?"

I blushed. "No reason."

"What did you dream about last night Mai?" Okay. I opened myself up for that and to my dismay, I blushed more.

"Nothing..."

His smirk worsened. "Did you dream about someone Mai? Did you dream about me?"

I nearly fell back in my chair. I just stared at him in shock and began to blurt random things. "Of course I didn't! What would make you think, I mean...why would I ever...um...no?"

He spoke into his tea cup. "Because I dreamed about you."

My embarassment turned to real curiosity. "Really?"

He nodded, staring at the screen again. The several rooms on the screen were totally calm.

"What was your dream about?" I asked, eager. It would be so wierd if we had the same dream.

He shook his head. "Not telling."

"Why?" As soon as I asked, I realized that I just sounded like a whiney child.

"Because..." He said, mocking my voice.

I stared at him in shock. Naru never joked around like this with anyone. Ever. I think we might assume he was dying if we ever heard him chuckle. "Come on...tell me please. We've got a lot of time to kill." I tried one last time.

"If you tell me your dream, I'll tell you mine." He compromised.

I sighed. "Promise?" I stared him in the eyes, determined not to let him lie.

He looked at me firmly. "I promise." He didn't do any of his tell-tale signs of lying.

"Alright...I had a dream that you and I had a...secret meeting...in room C8."

"A secret meeting." He mused. "What were we meeting about?"

I blushed. "I think we were secretly...dating." I squeaked the last word.

He smirked. "Go on."

"And I said that I didn't like keeping it a secret and you said that you didn't like sharing me so your brothers could never know...I know you don't have any living siblings. But in the dream, you did."

"And if they knew about you, I would have to share?" he asked with a confused look.

I shrugged. "I don't know. It was a wierd dream."

"Anything else happen?" He asked.

I looked at my lap. "Sorta..."

"Sorta?"

"We almost...kissed..." The last word came out as a whisper. I don't even know why I'm telling him...do I want to know what he dreamed of that badly?

"Kissed..." He purred the word. It sounded really rich and sweet the way he said it. The small smile on his lips vanished. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming about Gene? You've told me that he's your spirit guide." A hint of the earlier emotion I had saw in his eyes when those boys flirted with me came back.

"No. It was you. I called you Naru and you responded to it."

As if I had said the magic words, he smiled again. It looked like he was smiling to himself. "You have strang dreams Mai." He finally said after a minute. "But I think when my dream self said I had brothers, it was like the dream you told me of a while back. The one where I had killed someone and we had to run. Your mind was acting out the story of the fisherman and the princess running for the sea. I think the same thing happened in this dream. You're spirit sense is acting out a bit of the story that will help us solve this case. A girl that all three boys liked could cause an ending like this..."

While he was in thought, I remembered our bargain. "So now it's your turn. Tell me your dream."

He smiled, leaning back in his chair. "My dream is...a little bit different than yours. Very different actually. The only similarity was that in my dream I think we were...dating as well. But it wasn't a secret to anyone but..." He stopped. He sounded like he was trying not to laugh. How could he tell me his dream with such carelessness? He's not embarassed at all.

"Go on."

"In my dream, you were very jealous of the girl playing the piano that we interviewed yesterday. I was trying to get more information from her and she asked me out. You told her to back off, saying I was yours. Then you kissed me."

I stared wide-eyed. Oh ya! I get an almost kiss and he gets the kiss! Not fair! I was so shocked, I couldn't speak. He waved a hand in front of my face.

"I had expected you to act overwhelmed or at the very most, embarassed and unable to speak. I didn't expect you to get angry." He looked almost offended by my reaction. "Are you seriously mad that I dreamed I was with you? You dreamed the same thing..."

"I'm only mad beause you actually..."

"...got a kiss?" He finished for me and laughed. Actually laughed. Something told me that no one but me would ever see him laugh that way.

"Ya..." I blushed looking down.

"Mai?" Naru asked, obviously expecting me to look back up.

When I did look up, I nearly fell back in my chair again. Naru had moved his chair next to mine and had his face two inches from mine. He had one of the worst condesending smirks I had ever seen on his face but his eyes were dancing. "N-n-naru?" I stuttered.

"Have you ever kissed anyone before?"


	5. CLIP

**WOW! I AM SERIOUSLY HONORED TO CONTINUE THIS STORY! IT'S AMAZING THAT THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO LIKE IT! I LOVE ALL YOUR REVIEWS AND IN RESPONSE TO SOMEONE POINTING OUT MY MISTAKE ON CALLING THE FISHERMAN IN THE STORY A SAMARAI, I APOLOGIZE. IT WAS A LONG DAY AND I'M PRETTY SURE I HAD LEFT COHERENCE BEHIND AN HOUR BEFORE. PLEASE ENJOY EVERYONE.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.**

_"N-n-naru?" I stuttered._

_"Have you ever kissed anyone before?" _

Mai's POV:

I froze, my mind going a million places as once. "N-n-no..."

"Ever?"

"I've never had a boyfriend before so no, not ever." I blushed.

"Do you want to kiss me Mai?" How he managed to say that with a straight face is beyond me.

"Um..."

He shrugged and leaned back a couple inches. "If you don't want to, I understand. I just thought you might want to know what kissing is like. Everyone needs to learn how to eventually."

"You know, right now you're sounding more and more like you're just trying to play with my emotions."

"I'm not playing with your emotions Mai." No signs of lying.

"Then prove you aren't..." I whispered.

"How do you want me to prove it?"

I was about to speak when the sound of footsteps were heard outside the base door. Naru leaned away and faced the monitors as Bou san came in. "Hey guys. Can you believe it's already seven? If you need me, I'll be making myself some coffee."

"Coffee? I thought you usually drink tea." I said, then realized my voice was shaking.

To my dismay, I think Bou san noticed. "I drink tea in the evening to help me stay up later. I drink coffee in the morning to perk me up. I'm wierd that way. Do you want me to make you some tea Mai? You seem a little jittery. Have you been getting into the coffee?" He gave me a faux disapointed look. "It'll stunt your growth. Not that you're getting any taller short stuff."

I scowled at his blow to my height as he left the base to watch tv in the living room. As soon as he was gone, Naru stood up and sat at the kitchen table. "Mai, why don't you order breakfast for the two of us. We can eat from room service this morning."

"They don't start serving room service until eight. I think we'll fare better eating downstairs. The dining room is already open."

He stood and walked right up to me, stopping when his face was just as close as it was when we were sitting here alone. "Alright but if we're going downstairs to eat..."

"Yes?" I heard my voice waver.

He grabbed my robe tie and pulled it loose. "You need to get out of those pajamas."

I blushed in humiliation and backed away from him, stomping in a huff for the door. "Jerk..."

"Oh and Mai?" I didn't turn around. I just stopped right before I opened the door.

"Don't take too long or I might have to come in there and help."

I slammed the door open and ran for the room, locking myself inside its bathroom. I splashed water on my red face. I can't believe he just said that. He's so...different since we got here...is he doing all this because of those boys that flirted with me at lunch yesterday? Is Naru...jellous? Is Naru even capable of being jellous? I put on a pair of jeans and a dark blue tank top. I slid on flats and brushed my teeth and hair. After staring in the mirror for a second, I put on some pink lipgloss and put a dark blue barret in my hair.

Why was I trying so hard today? Why was I trying so hard to impress him? I almost immediately started to see Naru's dead twin brother, Gene, in my dreams when I started working for Naru. I had thought I was dreaming of Naru and when I found out it was Gene, part of me thought I was in love with Gene. Even Naru has accused me of it on occation. But the more I think on it, the more I see that I'm slowly falling for, not Gene, but my narcissistic boss.

Suddenly remembering Naru's threat of walking in here and 'helping me', I rushed past the still sleeping Ayako and Masako and into the front room. He was waiting by the front door. Bou san was watching tv with John san. Yasuhara was probably still sleeping. Lin san suddenly came in the front door.

"Where were you?" I asked him.

"Taking a walk. They have a very exstensive oriental garden." It's the most talking I've ever seen Lin san do, ever. He fell silent and walked right into the base without another word.

"Breakfast?" Naru asked, holding the door open for me. Naru actually requested the same table we had used yesterday. It wasn't very busy at all. Just a few people scattered about and no one was near our table.

The waitress this time was only about eighteen. I sighed as I watched her eyes get as big as dinner plates at the sight of Naru. Naru gave me a quizical look but gave the waitress our drink orders right away, giving her a small smile. As soon as the waitress left, Naru gave me a calculating look.

"You were jealous." He concluded.

"Wh-what? Don't assume junk like that...I wasn't jealous." I stuttered and looked down at my menu.

"Mai, you said yesterday that you know when I lie. Do you think I don't know when you lie? First off, you're a terrible lier to begin with. Second, you stutter and blush when you lie. I think you were jealous of the attention I gave the woman at the piano yesterday. Maybe my dream last night was telling me that."

The waitress came back with our drinks. "Are you both ready to order?"

Naru ordered the continental breakfast for both of us and the waitress rushed off to place our orders, glancing back to glare at me. "So what if I was jealous...you were jealous yesterday. First of the ghost, then of the boys at lunch..." I fell silent gauging his reaction.

"Yes...I supposed I was..." He took a drink of his tea, hiding his eyes with his bangs again.

Sighing in frustration, I took the clip from my hair and snapped it into Naru's hair keeping his bangs sweeped to the side. "You remove that clip and you'll have a lot more to worry about than my jealousy. Stop hiding your eyes and trying to keep all your stupid emotions back while you practically force me to wear mine on my sleeve."

He stared with wide eyes and for the first time, I saw Naru blush. "What do you want me to say? I just admited I was jealous."

"I want to know what you're going to do about it. If you havn't noticed, I like you."

Naru eyed the clip and I gave him a warning look. "Mai, please, I'll talk but the clip is ridiculous."

"If I let you remove it, you'll hide again. I want to know...if you like me back..."

He closed his eyes in either frustration or focus, then opened them. "Yes..."

"Yes what?"

"Yes Mai...I like you..."

"Two continental breakfasts coming right...up?" The waitress stared at Naru and his clip and he stared back with a tired, unfocused expression.

I smiled brightly. "He's gay."

Naru blushed and burried his face in his hands. "What am I going to do with you Mai...?"


	6. WHY ME?

**I LOVED WRITING CHAPTER FIVE SO MUCH AND I HOPED EVERYONE EJOYED IT. I HOPE EVERYONE ELSE ENJOYS CHAPTER SIX WHERE WE WILL FINALLY GET TO READ OF NARU AND MAI'S ****FIRST KISS!**** ENJOY.**

**ATTENTION: I WENT THROUGH AND CORRECTED AS MANY SPELLING ERRORS AS I COULD FIND IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. I APOLOGIZE IF I MISSED ANY. I'M A FAST TYPER AND TEND TO NOT REALIZE IT IF I ACCIDENTLY MISPELL SOMETHING.**

**AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL REVIEWS. IT REALLY MEANS A LOT TO ME. 3**

Mai's POV:

Breakfast was a silent affair. But it wasn't an akward silence. We both kept small smiles on our faces and Naru actually kept the clip in. After we had eaten, I reached over and unsnapped the clip, putting it back in my hair. "After we get the check, do you want to take a walk in the garden?"

I nodded silently as Naru opted to pay for breakfast. Naru and I headed for the back doors and walked into the garden. It was one of those beautiful oriental ones with a coy pond and a walkway through the flowers and trees with a bridge over the coy pond. We walked silently alongside one another. I tried my best to focus only on the greenery but my mind kept sinking back to Naru's words at breakfast. He said he liked me. And he meant it...

I jumped when I felt him take my hand and lace our fingers. I looked up at him and he looked off to the other side, obviously feeling embarassed. We began walking over the bridge, cherry blossom trees were everywhere but it was too early in the year for them to be vibrant and blooming. I shivered, suddenly feeling colder despite the warm sun. Naru had remembered to bring his trench coat jacket but then again, when did he ever not wear it when the weather called for it?

Naru stopped at the middle of the bridge and looked at the fish in the pond. They were all normal sized until one the size of a fat cat swam under the bridge and into the open again. "Woah! Did you see that one?"

He smiled and nodded. "Let's hope he doesn't eat the other fish." He mumbled.

"Do those fish do that?"

He shrugged, staring now into the trees that completely surounded the part of the trail we were walking on. I shivered again and naru noticed. "Did you not bring a coat?"

I shook my head. "Forgot to. Didn't really know when we came downstairs that we were going to take a walk. I'm fine though."

Naru shook his head. "Your lips are turning blue." He started unbuttoning his trench coat then pulled me suddenly into it with him. "Better?"

Embarassed, I just leaned my head on his torso and nodded. I felt Naru lean down and press his face into my hair. "Thank you..." I whispered.

"Mai. Look at me."

I looked up to find Naru smiling the warming smile I had ever seen him have. I blushed. "Yes Naru?"

"Close your eyes." The last thing I saw before closing my eyes was the slight blush that had creeped up Naru's neck. Then I felt him press his lips softly to mine. All embarassment faded and I kissed him back. I'm not sure how long we stayed like that but I suddenly felt light headed from lack of breath.

We pulled apart, both breathless. "Wow..." I whispered. I felt something hit my face and Naru began to frown.

"You're crying..."

I looked at him strangely. "Huh? No I'm not." I put a hand to my face and wiped off the moisture.

We both looked up as little raindrops started to fall. He pulled me closer into the jacket, if that was possible, and we walked quickly back to the Inn. We were both drentched when we finally got inside. Naru looked annoyed but I actually laughed when I looked at him. He looked like a drowned rat.

He looked back at me and his eyes got wide and he began to laugh before looking around for people. "Mai, hurry to the room for me please."

"Why?" I looked at him, confused.

"You're shirt..." He covered his mouth.

I looked down at myself. Oh my gosh! The shirt is see-through! Naru pulled off his jacket and drapped it over me. The thing drowned me. We both hurried to the hotel room. Everyone was lounging around.

"Don't you two look awesome." Bou san said, laughing. "Get caught in the rain?"

We nodded and I closed his jacket tighter around me before heading for the girl's bedroom. I changed into dry clothes and took one last wiff of Naru's jacket before heading for the front room. It smelt like cologn, rain, and Naru's signature scent that can only be described as his essence.

Naru had changed as well into black slacks with a black button up shirt. I handed him his jacket back as I sat next to him on one of the sofas and watched the tv without really watching it. I could feel everyone's stares and it made me want to blush.

"So what were you two doing outside Mai?" Ayako asked.

"We were taking a walk. Trying to walk off breakfast."

"Why didn't you have a jacket? You could've caught a cold with it raining like that and all." Bou san scolded.

"The walk was unplanned. I lent her my jacket..." Naru murmered.

Everyone left it at that. It was then that I noticed that Masako was giving me dagger eyes. Worse than the ones the waitress gave me. The look on her face could only be described as pure hate. The day passed on and lunch and dinner went by. Both being ordered from room service. I was suprised Naru had allowed us to not do much today. As soon as the sun went down, Naru shut his book and stood up from the couch.

"I'm going to go to room C8. Now that's it's sundown. It'll give me a good chance to check out the activity in the room." He looked at me, waiting for something.

I stood too. "I'll help you out."

The room watched our backs as we headed for the door. Masako, covered her mouth with her pink kimono sleeve. "Mai, before you go, could you make everyone some tea? Everyone had mentioned earlier that they'd like some."

I was listening to everyone today and no one mentioned tea. I wasn't about to call her a lier just in case everyone really did want tea. I made the tea in the base solomly, sure that Naru had left already. When I came in with the tea tray, I was shocked to see Naru still standing by the door, reading a book. I handed out the tea before running up to Naru. "Sorry. Ready now." 

He shut the book and sat it on a side table before opening the door. We walked down the hall towards the extra stairs that led to the third story. As soon as we were in room C8, Naru shut the door and pulled a candle from a backpack I didn't notice he had. He lit it and sat it on the same table. The curtains were still shut and the room was pitch black except for the candle's light.

We waited in silence. After about ten minutes, the candle's flame flickered then went out. No ghost appeared from the smoke. Almost instantly, the ghost poofed out of thin air, right by the bed. He was around eighteen. A younger version of the eldest one with the same brown hair and dark eyes.

Naru grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him. The ghost had the same awed, fascinated look on his face when he looked at me as his brother did. He moved forward, reaching out. Naru didn't push me back this time. He watched the ghost warily as he got close enough for me to touch.

"It's alright Mai. Don't be afraid. He won't hurt you." Naru whispered.

The ghost looked at Naru uncertainly then back at me. "Ayako. What have you done?" And then he vanished. The closet door of the hotel suite slid open, then slammed shut, almost like the ghost had ran in there and shut himself in.

"Why did he call me Ayako?"

"I'm not sure. But I'll find out later." Naru let go of me and walked over to the closet, opening it. It looked like any ordinary sliding doored closet. Naru began feeling along the walls, trying to check for something. He stepped inside and bounced a little. The floor moved down with him. "I thought so. Mai, bring me my backpack please."

I ran for it and handed it to him. He pulled out some kind of tool and stepped out of the closet. He then proceeded to pull up the floor boards. "Naru! This is a hotel! You'll have to pay for that."

He ignored me and continued to defile the building. When he had pulled up four boards, he reached in and pulled out a really old, dusty glass bottle. "What do we have here?"

"An old bottle of wine?"

"I'm not sure. Lin can do some tests on it and let us know what's in it." He shook the bottle slightly, letting the liquid inside swish around. He put the floorboards back in and put the bottle carefully inside his backpack. He stood up and took my hand. "Come on. Everyone will be expecting us back."

Naru began to lead us for the door but I stopped. He came to a hault and faced me with a quizical look. "Um..." I said quietly.

"Is everything alright Mai?" He asked, sqeezing my hand.

I looked down blushing and shook my head. "It's nothing I just..."

Naru lifted my chin and placed a small, soft kiss on my lips. "Wanted that?"

"Yes." I laughed, and we headed back to the suite. At the door, he let go of my hand. I figured from the biginning that we probably weren't going to tell anyone. Despite that, I still felt slightly hurt that he didn't want to walk in holding my hand. Once inside, Naru had us all sit while he showed us the footage.

_"Ayako. What have you done?"_ And the ghost disapeared. Naru suddenly stopped the footage and pulled the bottle out of his backpack.

"After the ghost opened and shut the closet door, I did some looking around and even looked under the floorboards. I ended up finding this. I would assume it was wine but the coloring is off."

"Well that bottle could be as old as the hotel itself. No wonder it's discolored." Bou san said as if it should be obvious.

"Lin? Do you think you could run some tests on this and tell me what it is." Naru asked.

Lin nodded but Bou san scoffed. "But it's a stupid bottle of wine. What does it have to do with the case? And what does Lin know about all that?"

"If it turns out to be a 'stupid bottle of wine', then we have nothing to lose. And for your information, Lin, while in college, learned advanced chemistry and even got a minor in it." Naru said calmly, his same emotionless look in place.

Everyone, including me, gave Lin san a second look. "What was his major?" Ayako asked.

"History..." Lin said quietly.

"Everyone! Look at the monitor for the downstairs sitting room!" John san shouted, pointing.

We watched as the eldest brother of the ghosts begun to play the piano. We turned the sound up. He played beautifully. A small crowd of frightened yet amazed hotel guests were keeping a ten foot radius at least. Suddenly, the ghost stopped and vanished. "Wow..." Ayako whispered.

"You took the word right out of my mouth..." Bou san said causing almost everyone to laugh, breaking the tention.

Naru looked at the now paused screen in consentration. "When midnight rolls around and all the guests have left for their rooms, we should do some investigating in that room. Takigawa? Are you up for a little room cleansing tonight? I need room C8 and the sitting room cleansed. Ayako? Can you make some charms? Enough for all the room doors? I'm aware that these ghosts are not dangerous but we want to try to limit where they can go. If we put warding charms on all the hotel room doors, they won't be able to enter. Yasuhara can help put them on the doors. And Masako, I would like very much if you went to all the rooms cameras are set in and let us know which rooms give you the biggest feeling of activity."

"If you'd like Shibuya san, I can cleanse one of the rooms while Takigawa cleanses the other." John san offered.

"Whatever works best for everyone. I'm going to do some more research on the deaths of these three boys. If we can find out a little more, it may help us take our next step in the case." Naru said, walking over to the computer. "Oh, and Mai?"

"Yes Naru?" I said, startled that Naru was actually going to give me a job in this.

"Please make some tea." Naru gave me a smirk but I could see the genuine smile behind it.

As everyone left the base to do their jobs, I proceeded to make tea. Setting the cup on the desk for Naru, I looked over his shoulder. "Anything new?"

"The bodies of all three brothers were put side by side somewhere where the garden now is." Naru said.

"That's strange. I didn't see any gravestones when we were out there. Did you?"

He shook his head. "They were most likely removed when the garden was created by whichever generation of the Bara family that owned the in at the time. For the garden to have so much greenery, it would of had to have been there for at least ten to fifteen years. Giving it time to prosper. It wouldn't be the cause of the ghosts coming here." He stopped talking to take a drink of tea.

I saw Naru tense his shoulders. He reached with one arm and started to rub out the soreness from one of them. Blushing, I pushed his hand from his shoulder and proceeded to rub his shoulders. "Aches?" I asked.

"Some..." I glanced at his face to find his eyes closed and his lips parted in contentment. "You're really good at that you know?" He opened his eyes and turned to smirk at me.

I blushed. "Do you think you slept wrong?" I asked, trying to focus only on his back so as to avoid his eyes.

"That could be a valid reason...if I were able to sleep at all..." He stated, causing my hands to freeze in place. I caught myself and picked right back up.

"Why can't you sleep?" I whispered, worried.

"Yasuhara and Tagigawa have the loudest snores ever for one. And...I don't know...I just can't sleep..."

"How long has this been going on?" I asked, moving a little lower to massage his shoulderblades.

"About a week...I dream of my brother...I dream about him almost every night...about the day he died...I thought I was over that already...I only get about an hour of sleep a night and even with that little hour, my dreams are plagued by him...last night's dream was the first change in a week..."

"I'm sorry Naru...they say that you'll never really get over the death of a loved one...I know I don't ever forget about my parents..." Naru reached behind him and took my wrist, leading me around him and sitting me on his lap.

"I'm not helping things by complaining like this am I?" He asked, moving a piece of hair away from my face.

"No, it's fine. Everyone deserves to complain every now and then and what you're doing isn't complaining...it's more like confession."

He smiled a small small but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Naru?" I asked, occupying most of my attention but messing with his shirt collar.

"Yes?" He tightened the arms that held me close.

"Why me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you pick me to like? Why not Masako? We both know she likes you and she's really pretty..."

"Two reasons why Mai. First off, I don't like Masako. I've known her since I was fifteen but I've never been able to feel anything towards her. And yes, she's pretty in her own way but so are you. And second...I prefer the spacey types with big brown eyes and the ability to know whether I'm lying or not." He smiled genuinely.

"Thank you..."

"We should go see if everyone is doing their jobs and then tomarrow when the sun is up, we'll ask the Bara family to show us where the graves markers used to be."

We both got up and walked through the suite. We opened the door to the room and had taken two steps into the hallway when we saw Bou san and Ayako talking, their faces close to eacher. Suddenly, Ayako laughed and kissed Bou san's cheek. No way! Ayako and Bou san?


	7. RIGHT IN THE BATTERIES

**HEY! I'M SORRY IT TOOK ME A FEW DAYS TO PUT UP CHAPTER SEVEN. I'VE BEEN A LITTLE PREOCCUPIED WITH FAMILY STUFF. PLZ ENJOY AND AS FOR THE DISCLAIMER, YADA YADA, YOU ALL KNOW I DON'T OWN GHOST HUNT. :P**

_Suddenly, Ayako laughed and kissed Bou san's cheek. No way! Ayako and Bou san?_

Mai's POV:

At the sound of my gasp, both turned to us. Ayako turned pale and jumped away from Bou san whereas Bou san just laughed.

"They were gonna found out eventually." Bou san said, swinging an arm behind his neck is slight embarassment.

Ayako nodded. "It's past time to take the cameras off auto pilot and start watching them. Let's get everyone back to the base."

I had the small feeling that Ayako was very upset about being found out and something told me it was okay to tell her our secret too. "Hey Ayako?"

"Ya Mai?"

"You don't have to feel embarassed that we know. I think you guys are great together. Besides...the truth is-" I felt Naru reach up carefully and latch on to a piece of my hair. I shut my mouth.

"The truth is?" Ayako asked, prodding me along.

Oh crap. What do I say if Naru still wants it to be a secret? I looked back at Naru for help and he looked like he was debating with himself. He sighed, closing his eyes then he nodded. Smiling brightly, I turned back to the older couple. "Naru and me are dating."

Naru put a finger over my mouth. "Hush...could you say it any louder?"

I laughed at the blush on his face and Ayako and Bou san joined in. "Sorry Naru. I'll go find everyone."

Naru nodded. "I'll find everyone on the bottom floor and Mai can check the top."

"Hai." I said, heading for the stairs.

"Oh, and Mai?" Naru said.

"Yes?"

"Please stay out of room C8. I doubt anyone will be in there."

I nodded and ran up the stairs. I found John san and Masako san walking down the hall and I told them both Naru's orders. "Will do Mai. I was just taking Masako back to the room. She past by a room and felt a strong pull to it. It left her drained."

"Room C8?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

Masako nodded, covering her mouth with her kimono sleeve and continuing to walk.

As soon as she and him were down the stairs, I did a quick sweep through the rest of the hall, looking in the rooms I knew were vacant. I was about to pass by room C8 without another thought but I heard something. It sounded like whispers. Maybe someone is in here. Like Yasuhara or maybe even a couple of kids using it as a playroom. I don't recall Naru locking the door last time we were here.

Thinking back to Naru's warning, I hesitated, then opened the door. It was unlocked like I thought. I looked around and found no one. I stepped in a few steps. "Is anyone in here?" I called, looking towards the bathroom door. The door behind me suddenly slammed shut and I nearly screamed. I tried opening it but it wouldn't budge.

"Somebody! Help me! Anyone?" I banged on the door. I heard a small sound behind me, like the rustle of fabric. Looking behind me, I saw the bed covers begin to move as if someone were sitting on the bed and had just sat up. It was then that smoke began to form on it's own and a figure appeared before me. I was all alone in a room with what could only be a ghost...

Fear. Did the word fear even cover what I was feeling at this very moment? I watched the ghostly, transparent figure walk across the room. The closer they came the more I could make out their features. It was a boy. He looked to be close to my age. His eyes were dancing, a small smile played on his lips. His warm smile almost made my fear vanish. He walked right up to me and stopped a few inches from my face. I could feel cold air being breathed on my face. The boy closed his eyes, as if in prayer, then leaned forward to...KISS ME?

I screamed which caused the ghost to back his face away in shock. "Ayako? Why are you screaming love?"

"I'm not Ayako! I'm Mai! Please get away!"

He looked like he was swayed for a second then shook his head, his dirty blond locks shaking with him. "Don't be silly love. I know who you are. We don't have to use code names right now..." He put both hands on the wall beside me and proceeded to lean forward again.

I leaned my face away, about to let out another ear splitting scream when the door to the suite was kicked in and Naru ran in. "Get away from her!"

The ghost hissed and vanished. "Naru...?" I said weakly before collapsing into his outstretched arms.

He picked my up and proceeded to take me down to our suite. Bou san was outside the door with wide eyes. "It's alright Mai...you're safe..."

"She okay?" He asked.

"Ya. She's fine."

It almost made the near experience of being kissed by something undead worth while to see the look of total jealousy on Masako's face when Naru came in with me in his arms. It's almost as if he wasn't aware of the others in the room with us, the way he was looking at me. "Could someone get her something to drink?" Naru asked. Ayako ran into the kitchen.

He sat on the couch, sitting me in his lap. "She looks like she just saw a ghost." John san comented.

I nodded towards John san. Ayako came back in with a bottle of water and Naru made me take a drink. He looked at me, annoyed. "I told you to stay out of room C8, why did you disobey me?"

I thought I heard someone in there. I thought maybe it was Yasuhara, cause I hadn't seen him anywhere. How did you get to me so fast?"

"I was watching the monitors while I waited for the people who should be watching them now and I saw you go in the room. I saw the room door slam shut and hurried to the room."

Bou san laughed. "You should've seen him when we were on the stairs and heard you scream. He started booking it up the stairs and karate kicked the door in."

Naru blushed. "I did not...'book it'..."

Bou san laughed loudly but didn't push the matter. After the hype of it all faded, everyone fell into their normal routine. It was now past ten and Masako and John san's turn to watch the monitors. Ayako and Bou san stayed up talking with the two watchers in the base and drinking some tea, Lin san mumbled something about a walk and left, Yasuhara began watching America's Funniest Videos, and Naru sat next to me on the couch, watching me with cautious eyes.

"I'm fine Naru. You don't have to worry about me." I said, making sure Yasuhara's attention was completely on the tv before reaching up and touching Naru's face.

Naru kissed my forehead, keeping his eyes on the boy in the room. Before Naru could pull away, Yasuhara looked at us and proceeded to watch the tv. "Don't freak out." He said, looking at Naru's scared expression. "I already know about you two."

"H-how?" I asked.

"Masako wanted to take a walk this morning and Ayako recomended someone accompany her with the ghosts following the young ladies and all. When we made it to the the second floor window, we looked at the garden and saw you two kissing on the bridge."

Naru and I blushed in embarassment. So that's why Masako was giving me dagger eyes when we came back from breakfast..."If you knew, why didn't you say anything?" I asked.

"I knew that Naru was the type who liked his privacy and knew you'd go with him on that. Plus you guys didn't say anything so I assumed you were going to stay quiet on it. So who else knows?"

"Ayako and Bou san know." I said.

"So that just leaves John san and Lin san." Yasuharu said thoughtfully. "Hey everyone! Get in here! Naru and Mai have big news!"

"Yasuhara!" Naru yelled. "Two words. Shut...up..." Naru said through clenched teeth.

Everyone, unfortunatly, came piling into the room, taking a seat. Naru burried his face in his hands while I focused my attention on him instead of the other five people in the room. Yasuhara looked at us awkwardly and mouthed an apology. "So what's the news you two?" Bou san asked with a knowing smile.

I opened my mouth to speak but couldn't find my words. I looked at Naru who was no longer hiding his face in his hands but staring at me quizically. "What is it?" I asked him.

"Nothing...I've just never seen you at a loss for words." He smirked.

"I am all the time around you..." I said, too quietly for the curious watchers to hear. Turning to everyone, I shrugged. What can we say? Um well...we're..."

"Together." Naru finished for me. He wasn't blushing and his face was straight but his eyes were in a chaotic mess. I took and squeezed his hand in reasurance.

"No way!" Bou san said in faux suprise. "We never would've guessed." I had never heard so much sarcasm in a person's voice and I have never wanted to hit someone so bad.

"Congradulations you two." John san said genuinely. I looked around the room at everyone's expressions. Only two were something other than happy. Masako looked in control but she had her sleeve over her mouth and her eyes looked like she would very much like to stab me with the nearest object. Lin looked like he was...mad? He had a strong look of disapproval. Why would Lin be mad?

"Alright. Everyone should get back to work or go to bed. It's late." Naru mumbled.

"Aww. Naru's all embarassed." Bou san cooed, obviously unaware that if you angered Naru, you would face his wrath. Naru looked casually at the large book he had been reading since the other day and picked it up. He looked like he was about to open it and begin reading again but instead, he stood and chucked it with all his might, getting Bou san right in the batteries. He sat back down and casually put his arm around me while Bou san bent over in obvious pain. "You little brat..." Bou san chocked out.

"Back to work Takigawa." He said, focussing his eyes on the tv.

"This means war Shibuya. This means war..." Bou san chocked out while everyone went to do their jobs.

I looked up in shock at Naru. "Did you have to hit him 'there'?"

He smiled brightly and kissed my cheek. "It got the message across."

"That it did..." I said quietly as Bou san limped into the boy's bedroom.


	8. AGE

**HEY READERS! YOU ALL ARE AMAZING! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE GREAT REVIEWS! IT'S AWESOME! I HAVE FANDOM! AND HERE'S A BIG CHEER TO THE 1,000th VIEWER FOR THIS STORY! ENJOY CHAPTER EIGHT!**

**DISCLAIMER: IF I OWNED GHOST HUNT, EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN THIS STORY WOULD BE HAPPENING IN THE ANIME RIGHT NOW! XD**

Mai's POV:

I was dreaming now. I was sure of it. I was walking down a hall towards room C8. As I walked in, I saw the boy who had tried to kiss me with someone who looked just like me but with a bit longer hair in his arms. Both were dressed in clothing ment for a much earlier time. The room's furniture was different. It was more like a sitting room of sorts.

"Ayako..." He whispered.

"Kyou..."

"Ayako, I need to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me. I promise not to get angry...I've been told by a friend of mine that they've seen you with my other two brothers..."

She blushed just like I do when I'm lying or about to lie. "Whatever do you mean dear Kyou? You know I love only you..."

"You kissed my eldest brother...I saw you..."

She buried her face in his shirt. "How could you accuse me of such things. He kissed me...He threw himself on me Kyou...I was so afraid..." She began to cry the most fake tears I've ever seen but it caused the boy to become compassionate.

"Please don't cry Ayako...I won't let any of my brothers near you again...I swear..."

The dream changed and I was alone in the room. Suddenly, the door opened and Ayako came running in with the eldest brother. Both were laughing and they shut the door before kissing passionately. "I love you Ayako..."

"You know I love you Yuki."

And then the scene changed and I was alone in the room once again. The door opened and the second eldest brother came in. "Ayako?"

The closet opened and Ayako came out and ran to him, kissing him. "I hid in the closet so no one would find me."

"You're so cute." He said, holding her. "I wish we didn't have to keep our love a secret."

"Me too Chenyo...but if my father found out I was with you, he'd send me away...he's so protective..."

"One day, I'll take you away from him and we'll get married."

"I'd love that Chenyo..."

The scene changed again and I watched with wide eyes as the eldest and second eldest brother sat talking and the youngest came in the room, holding the bottle Naru had found. "Hello brothers. Are you both thirsty? I snatched this bottle of wine from father's collection. He'll never see it missing. I already drunk my share. You two can have the rest."

"Thanks." the eldest said, taking a big swig and handing the bottle to the second eldest who also took a big drink.

The scene changed and the room had been converted to a sick room with beds moved in. The eldest and second eldest moaned in pain as sweat covered them. A woman was careing for both of them with tired eyes. She must be their mother. The youngest boy stood against the wall with fearful eyes. The scene changed to a different room completely. It was a small bedroom and the youngest boy sat crying on his bed.

"They're going to die...they're going to die...it's all my fault..." The boy clutched the bottle of wine to his chest and closed his eyes. He opened it and took a big drink. "This would never had happened if they had just both kept their filthy paws of her...pigs..." He began to hyperventilate.

The scene changed to me standing next to three graves. The names on them read Yuki, Chenyo, and Kyou. "No..." I whispered. "He killed his own brothers...and then himself?"

I jerked awake then. All I could see is black. "Where am I?" I whispered.

"Morning Mai." I heard Naru whisper.

I pulled away to find I was sitting in Naru's lap in the base. The black I saw was his shirt. "Did I fall asleep? Crap. I'm sorry."

"It's fine." He smiled and kissed my forehead. I remembered that I had gotten up to watch the monitors at four and Naru had pulled me into his lap. A few minutes later, I was out cold. Wow. What a dream...

"Naru...I had another of my dreams...I think I know what happened to the boys...Did Lin ever find out what was in that bottle?"

"Yes. He said it was three parts wine and one part rat poison." He said, watching me with careful, calculating eyes. Gasping, I quickly told him my dream. Once I had finished, he was in shock. "That explains why all three boys took such a liking to you..."

I nodded, blushing. "Naru..."

"Yes?"

"I need to tell you something..." I blushed.

His expression became wary. He only nodded.

"When you came to save me from the ghost that had me pinned against the wall..."

"He was trying to kiss you, I know."

I stared in shock. "You know?"

"I watched the footage while you were asleep. Did you think I'd be mad because of it? Why would I be mad if it isn't your fault?"

I shrugged and buried my face in his chest. "Sorry for being silly."

"It's fine. We need to go ahead and get ready for the day."

I looked at the wall clock. "We still have ten minutes."

"Do we?" He smirked and picked up a piece of my hair, twisting it around his finger. "Then how should we pass the time?"

Blushing, I closed my eyes and kissed him softly. Kissing me back, he hugged me close with one hand on my waist and the other around my shoulders. Running my fingers through his hair, we kissed with more passion that we ever had. Naru sighed deeply into the kiss and the hand on my waist rubbed circles in my side. In an instant, Naru lifted me up and sat me back on his lap, strattling him.

Pulling me back into the kiss, I was all but lost in his touch when the base door slid open. Lin san walked in and we both froze in horrer. He shut the door with him on the inside and began making tea. Naru pulled me off his lap and sat me in my own chair. He looked at Lin san cautiously. "Do you have anything to say?" Naru asked him.

"No. Not really. If you want to make stupid decisions then by all means." He continued to make the tea.

Taken aback, I stood. "What do you mean Lin san?"

"It's nothing...it's just that..." Lin san began.

"I'll tell her Lin." Naru whispered.

He nodded and left the base with his tea. As soon as he was gone, I looked to Naru with confused eyes. He pulled me into his lap again.

"Mai...there's something you should know...I'm older than you realize..."

"How old are you Naru? I thought you were seventeen..."

"I'm nineteen years old...We had to lie about my age and say I was only seventeen and in high school because England was sending troups away to help out an ally and they were drafting those eighteen or older. It's why I had to leave England and go to Japan under an assumed name..."

"So that's why you hid your name..." I remembered the day he told us all that he was Oliver Davis.

He nodded with careful eyes. "Lin was upset about me being with you because of the age difference. You're only fifteen Mai. Some would frown on such an age gap."

"But you don't care what they think do you?" I asked, scared that he was going to end everything.

He shook his head and gave me one of his signature smirks. "If I cared, I wouldn't have told you how I felt in the first place..."

He leaned in to kiss me but we then heard everyone getting up so he kissed me on the cheek and lifted us both up. "Go get ready and you can come with me to ask the Bara family about where the graves once were."

Leaving the base, I took a hot shower and proceeded to get ready. Putting on jeans and a pale green t-shirt, I put my hair in pigtail braids and brushed my teeth. Opening the bathroom door, I saw that Masako was ready and sitting on my bed.

"Mai? May I speak to you?"

"Sure Masako."

She blushed prettily. "How did it happen?"

"How did what happen?"

"How did you manage to convince Naru to go out with you? What could you have possibly said to break him of his no dating rule?"

"I'm not sure if I did anything particular. Naru admitted to liking me already."

She looked suprised and hurt. "He's always liked you...hasn't he?" She covered her mouth with her sleeve and looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry Masako..." I said softly, my heart reaching out to her.

She shook her head. "No. Don't you pitty me. Don't you dare pitty me. I don't need it from you. I'm fine. You can go now."

She stood and shut herself in the bathroom. I walked solomly back intot the living room. Everyone was crowded around the tv. Naru saw me and patted the space on the couch next to him. I sat shyly. "I really liked this case...it seems like we all spend a lot more time together. Just like a family." I said quietly.

We were all enjoying a morning sitcom when the door to the suite slammed open and Mrs. Bara came rushing in. "The fish are dead! All of the fish in the coy pond are dead!"


	9. SEONCE

**I HOPE EVERYONE HAS BEEN ENJOYING THE STORY SO FAR! AND I NOTICED TODAY THAT THE GIRL THAT ALL THREE BROTHERS LOVED HAS THE SAME NAME AS AYAKO THE SHRINE MAIDEN. XD SORRY. LOL ENJOY.**

Mai's POV:

_"The fish are dead! All of the fish in the coy pond are dead!"_

"Calm down Mrs. Bara. Everything's alright. What do you mean the fish are dead?" Naru asked, walking up to her.

"I was doing my yard work outside this morning. When I went to feed the fish, I saw that they all were floating lifeless in the water...we don't know what could have caused them all to just die like that...we fear it might have been the work of the ghosts..." She covered her mouth with her white kimono sleeve the way Masako does.

"Mrs. Bara, I won't say that the death of your fish is not from the ghosts but I will say that there is a very likely chance that it isn't. Does your pond of some kind of filtering system?"

"No. It's just a natural pond. There's a small underground spring that keeps the pond filled with fresh water."

"It may be that something is in that spring that is causing the fish to die off" Bou san said, scratching his chin. "Some kind of animal may have gotten to that underground spring and died down there, therefore tainting the water. Or there might be some kind of harmful chemical that found its way in there. The spring that fills the pond isn't the same spring that provides your plumbing is it?"

"No. We get our plumbing from the city. The spring is too small to use it as our main water supply. That's what we were told when we asked a while back." Mrs. Bara said.

"Mrs. Bara..." Naru began. "When you and your husband put in the garden you now have, was there anything that you had to take out that hindered construction? Such as gravestones."

Her eyes were wide as if the whole situation just made sense. "Yes...three of them...we didn't want to disturb them but my husband said they would hurt business. We had a professional come in with the intent to dig up the graves and move them to a local cemetary...but as the man dug deeper...there was no bodies. Nothing. Just three grave markers with no purpose. She we used the hole we dug looking for the graves as a pond. We had another professional come in a inlay it with rock, giving it a solid surface."

We took in the woman's words. So that means that the stones were put there as a way of misleading people. The bodies of the three boys are somewhere else. But why would anyone want to hide the bodies...?

"Thank you so much for your time Mrs. Bara. I'm very sorry to hear about your fish and I promise we'll do all we can to solve this case as quickly as possible for you." Naru said, bowing and showing her to the door. When she was gone, he turned back to us. "Does anyone have any theories?"

"I'm lost honestly." Bou san said quietly.

Ayako was thinking very carefully. "You know what just hit me!" She said with big eyes. "That ghost called Mai Ayako...whoever that ghost thought Mai was...

she has the same name as me!"

"No duh." Bou san said sarcastically.

"It took you this long to figure that out?" Masako mumbled from behind her sleeve.

"Try to stay focused everyone." Naru said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Naru? Do you think it might be any help to tell everyone about my dream?"

Naru nodded and everyone put their focus on me. I told my dream with as much detail as I could remember from it. When I finished, I found myself shaking. "I just can't believe he killed his brothers and himself..."

"So that means that the bottle of wine..." Bou san began.

"That you said was just a stupid bottle of wine and needed to be thrown out... turned out to be a bottle of poison." Naru finished for him.

Bou san blushed and muttered something under his breath about it being a stupid, honest mistake. "Alright alright. So what's our next step boss." Bou san said with heavy sarcasm on the last word.

"Our next step is to eat breakfast. Then I request that Lin performs a seonce in room C8. If we can communicate with any of the ghosts at all in a controlled situation, it'll help us exponentially."

Lin san nodded in agreement. "I'll perform the seonce...as long as you promise not to do what you did last time Naru."

Lin san was refering to the time Lin performed a seonce and Naru allowed a fox demon to enter his body. I shuddered when I remembered how long Naru slept after that. We had to keep him asleep to make sure he didn't try to hurt anyone.

"Don't worry...I won't..." Naru said, seemingly expressionless.

We all ordered from room service once again and as soon as we finished eating, we headed to room C8. The table that Naru usually sits a candle on had a red table cloth put on it and a set of three candles. Lin san lit the candles and began to make soft chants as he sat in a chair at the table. We all stood against the wall and watched and listened to the older Chinese man.

Not even a minute later, the candles on the table flickered out and the smoke formed instantly to the being of the youngest brother, Kyou. "Why are you here?" His voice came out in a breathy whisper that sounded much different from how the ghosts sounded the other times we heard them. He sounded angry...hostile even.

Naru stepped beside Lin san. "The real question is why are you still here?"

"Don't talk to me..." The ghost spat out venomously.

Naru's expression never changed from its normal emotionless stage but everyone else, including me, gasped at the pure hate in the voice. "Why?" Naru asked, unafraid.

"You stole Ayako from me." He whispered dangerously. He looked from Naru to me and opened his arms. "Don't be afraid Ayako. I won't let him hurt you..."

I shivered and back further against the wall. The ghost frowned with hurt eyes and looked at Naru with another look of pure hate. "I won't leave without her...just you wait...I'll kill you too..." And he vanished. The candle's smoke moved around as if the ghost had never been there.

A surge of fear shot through me at the thought of any harm coming to Naru and I ran to him, clutching his jacket sleeve. "I thought these ghosts weren't meant to be harmful..." I whispered.

Naru looked at me, his expression changing for a split second to something warm but changed again when he became aware again of those in the room.

"I don't think I can channel anything else without rest Naru." Lin san whispered.

"You did well. If you wish, you may go to bed now." Naru said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. Lin san nodded and left the room, heading for the suite.

Everyone else also headed for the suite until Naru and I remained. I looked at him and saw that his guard was gone once again and he was staring at me with aware and careful eyes. He touched my face. "No one is going to hurt me. You don't have to worry at all."

I smiled as best I could. "I know." I lied.

By his expression, he knew I was lying. "Do you want to take a little trip?"

"A trip?" I asked and he nodded. "Where?"

"Anywhere you want to go." He smiled warmly and took my hand, leading me away from the room. "Wait here."

Before I could protest, Naru ran down to the second floor and came back with my jacket. He helped me in it and we headed to the first floor. Once outside the hotel, he squeezed my hand. "Where will it be?"

"Why are you doing all this for me?" I asked, almost afraid that something had possessed him.

"You need a few hours away from the hotel. We both do. Plus...I've never gotten to take you on a real date." He smirked.

My heart fluttered and I squeezed his hand back with confidence that anywhere Naru took me would be the best and safest place ever.


	10. BEACH

**I HOPE EVERYONE LOVES THIS CHAPTER! I'M GONNA START IT OFF TOTALLY KAWAII THEN IT'LL GET REAL INTERESTING! :)**

**ENJOY THE STORY THAT I DO NOT OWN ONE LITTLE BIT EVEN THOUGH I WISH I DID. (*cough cough* disclaimer)**

Mai's POV:

I couldn't remember a time when I had ever felt as happy as I do right now. Naru had said that we both needed time away from the hotel and the pressure of the case. He used his power to control objects (such as the time he controled a 500 yen coin and made it move around) to hotwire Bou san's western style mustang. I wasn't happy about it but he promised we would return it safely before Bou san had a chance to miss it. We were currently driving down the highway, holding hands and listening to a relaxing song on the radio.

"Will you tell me where we're going yet?" I asked for the millionth time.

"Nope. I gave you the chance to choose earlier and you didn't answer fast enough. I wanna take you to one of my favorite places."

"And where is that?" I hinted.

"Nice try." He smiled and stared out the windshield with a relaxed expression on his handsome face. It might be my imagination or just wishful thinking but Naru seemed to act more alive since we began going out.

After twenty minutes of him driving and me looking frantically for a sign to tell me where we were, we stopped in a parking lot that led to a small, private beach. "We're going to swim in the ocean? It's freezing." I frowned, worrying for a moment about Naru's sanity.

"We're not going to swim in the ocean. What I'm showing you is on the beach."

We both got out of the car and he took my hand, leading me along the sandy shore. The day was much warmer then expected. It had to be at least 65 degrees. I stopped before we got too far away from the car and ran back to sit my coat on the hood. "It's really warm. You aren't gonna walk all the way to wherever we're going in a trench coat are you?"

He gave me a calculating stare before walking back to the car and taking off his coat and sitting it next to mine. He then unbuttoned the black button up shirt and sat it next to the coat. He wore a deep blue t-shirt underneath. "I suppose your right. You wouldn't by chance want to take your shirt off too?"

I hit his arm. "I have a tank top underneath it but I knew exactly what you meant you perv."

He shook his head and smirked. "I'm not a pervert. I just know what I like."

I pulled off the over shirt and ajusted the dark green tank top I had on. "You sounded very much like your usual jerky self when you said that."

"Sorry love..." He kissed my forehead and took my hand again, leading me down the beach.

We had walked for at least twenty yards and I still saw nothing but Naru seemed to know exactly where we were going. When we had walked another twenty or so yards, I finally saw what the big suprise was. It was a restaraunt on the beach and there were people building a pile of sticks for a fire. "They're going to have a bonfire party as soon as the sun sets. I used to go to this restaraunt all the time with my family when we visited Japan. You know...the reason I accepted the case for this hotel so willingly is because it's the very hotel my family stayed at when we visited here. We would drive to the beach and eat out and stay for the parties on occation."

"That must've been so nice...why doesn't your parents ever come to Japan to visit you Naru?" I looked at him as I asked this as watched in awe as his hair moved in the breeze and the sun shown on the waves that crashed behind him.

"We fell apart...my father became preoccupied with his job and so did my mother. They both work as psycic researchers and nowadays they don't even take the same cases anymore...they would both visit me if I really asked them to but part of me doesn't ant them to..."

"Why don't you?"

"I don't want there to be a fight...we used to fight a lot...it was a day to day thing between my father and me. He wouldn't have cared if I were drafted and died in the war. My mother begged him to help get me out of the country. I've always loved my country and I want to defend it if it comes down to where my help is really needed but...I was scared I guess...when my mother said she was saving me by sending me away, I didn't fight her on it...plus...the war we were fighting in at the time was a pointless war...just bloodshed..." He shook his head and we both continued to walk towards the restaraunt hand in hand.

The restaraunt was one of those outdoor ones with a gazebo roof over us. We got a table for two and stared at the waves while we waited for someone to take our order. I looked at a clock on one of the pillars. It was already noon suprisingly. To my imense bad luck, our waitress was young, pretty and blond. She flipped her long hair pulled back into a ponytail and eyed us speculatively, as if checking to see if we were related, friends, or actually together.

"Can I get you anything?" She asked.

"I'll take some hot herbal tea and..."

"It's 65 degrees Naru. Try something different." I said, laughing.

He looked confused for a second and picked up the menu. "Um...I guess I'll have the coke. Isn't that a drug?"

The waitress laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. The little hussy... "He's kidding." I said, smiling. "We'll both have cokes." The waitress wrote it down and left the table, turning her head a few times on her way to the kitchen to glance at Naru.

I turned to him quickly. "You were kidding right?"

"Isn't it a drug?"

"Have you ever even heard of soda before?" I asked incredulously.

"I remember drinking a 7-up when I was twelve."

"You and your fancy upbringing.." I murmured under my breath. "Well you'll like coke. It has nothing to do with illegal drugs. A change from tea will do your body good. You need sugar every now and then. It's in the food pyramid."

The waitress came back and sat the drinks in front of us. "Are you both ready to order."

"Not yet." Naru said, picking up his menu and handing me mine. I noticed that he didn't even look her direction. Not even to fakely smile at her like he did the waitress at the hotel. I smiled. He must get that I don't like him being flirty with other girls. Even when it's fake.

"Alright. I'll give you a few minutes." She left and Naru dropped his menu to stare at his drink. Picking it up, he took a drink from the straw in it.

"Good?" I asked and he nodded. We had just decided to both try one of the western dishes the restaraunt had when the waitress came back.

"We'll both try the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and two sides of white rice." Naru said quietly, both hands cupped around his drink.

She gave him an odd look that he ordered rice with the dish but wrote it down and left without a word. "I wonder how it's so warm if it's supposed to snow in a few days."

"The temperature here is strange. It can be unpredictable." He murmured. We sat there in silence for a bit.

"Thank you..." I said after a moment.

He looked up. "For what?"

"For doing this for me. It was really sweet of you."

He smiled and put a finger over his lips. "But don't tell anyone. Wouldn't want to ruin my reputation as a narcissistic jerk."

"Of course we wouldn't." I smiled and took a drink of my coke.

After we had finished eating, him and I walked onto the beach and looked around for seashells to put into a discarded pail we found. We even found a sanddollar and a starfish still in perfect condition. "Naru! Look!" I pointed out towards the water. There were dolphins jumping from the water, diving back in gracefully. Afraid of being cold but anxious to be in the water to feel the waves, I took of my flats and rolled my jeans into capris. When Naru had nealt down to grab a shell, I stepped into the water. It was cold but not nearly as cold as I thought it would be.

"What are you doing Mai? You're going to get yourself sick." He pulled me back from the water's edge.

"No I won't. It isn't very cold. It feels kinda good. You should try it." I wiggled from his grasp and stepped back in.

I looked behind me to see Naru staring at the water like it might try to drag him in. Sighing, he took off his shoes and socks and rolled his black slacks up a bit. He closed his eyes and stepped into the water. Overwhelmed that he actually listened right away, I hugged him, latching to his waist. "See it isn't that bad."

He hugged me back and made some sort of embarassed huff. I pulled back from him and reguarded his embarassed face. "What? Are you too embarassed to hug me in public?" I teased but he seemed to take me seriously.

"Of course not." He stuttered. "It's just that...everyone is staring at us..."

I looked at the crowd of people that littered the beach and not one person was looking at us. Wait, scratch that. There was a small group of teen girls staring at Naru like they had just saw a unicorn. I turned back to Naru. "You're just paranoid. Hardly anyone is looking this way."

His embarassed expression turned to one of barely conceiled rage. "He is..."

I peeked around my shoulder. There was a blond surfer dude eyeing me with what could only be described as bedroom eyes. He wiggled an eyebrow and I gave him a dirty look. I gasped as Naru pulled me to him and hugged me possesively. I turned my head to watch the surfer dude give me a bummed look and walk off towards the restaraunt.

I laughed. "I thought we were past jealousy."

He let go and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not jealous..." He looked out at the waves. He looked like a male model and I suddenly felt a pang on my self esteem. How on earth did I get lucky enough to deserve this guy...He should be with someone like that waitress or even Masako. Someone smart like him and a lot prettier than I am.

He touched my forehead, rubbing the wrinkle between my eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "It's just that...I still don't get why you chose me..."

He sighed and smiled softly. "You don't see yourself clearly. Why do you think that guy was trying to get your attention? Or the group of guys from the hotel restaraunt?"

I shrugged my shoulders. Leaning into his embrace, he leaned down and kissed me. "Aww..." I heard the girls that were eyeing him earlier say. "That's so cute."

We spent the few hours left before sunset walking in the water and collecting shells. As the sun finally set, the bonfire roared to life, making us feel warm even though the temperature dropped. "Should we head back?"

He looked around at the beach then at the watch on his wrist. "Ya. We've been gone for seven hours."

"We have?" I began to freak out.

"It's alright. I told Lin that we were going to be gone for a while. He probably told everyone."

I looked back at the sea, not wanting to leave. I loved being here with him...it let me forget all about the case and my fearful dreams and the threat. The threat..."I wish we didn't have to go back...I'm afraid that ghost might try to hurt you or someone else..."

"He won't. Don't worry. We'll put a protection charm on the hotel door." We put on our shoes and rolled back down our pants. He led me back down the beach. We found our way back to the car and put back on our overshirts and coats. We didn't make our way back to the hotel till close to eight. When we finally walked back into the hotel room, everyone was shuffling around with phones in hand.

"There you two are! We've been worried sick! We called you a million times! We almost called the police!" Bou san yelled.

Ayako gave me a big hug. "Aww, poor thing. Did this bad man do horrible things to you."

Naru glared at her and tried not to blush. "Of course I didn't. Don't be stupid."

"Really. We just drove to the beach." I said, smiling.

"The beach? I didn't think any of the public beaches were open this time of year." John san said, confused. 

"They aren't. It's a private beach owned by a friend of my father's and he keeps it open year round for the general public."

"So we were stuck around the base all day watching the monitors out of bordom while you two went to the beach?" Bou san said with slight anger. "Did you guys swim? It's freezing."

"No. We didn't swim. I'm not stupid." Naru walked to the base with tired eyes and shut himself in.

"What's got up his butt?" Bou san murmured.

"It might be that you guys always assume he's up to something bad. Give him some credit. He's a smart guy." I defended, crossing my arms.

"We know that Mai. That's why we tease him." Ayako said soothingly. "If you want we can apologize."

"No. It's okay. I'll go talk to him." I went to the base and opened the door just enough to slip in, shutting it behind me. Naru was sitting at the table reading his book. "Ignore them Naru. They're just joking around."

He looked up and smiled tiredly. "I'm not upset. I'm just tired...I havn't gotten more than fourteen hours of sleep in the past week..." He burried his face in his hands.

"You can sleep if you want. I can wake you if anything happens." I offered, rubbing his shoulders.

"I don't think I should...it's still work time. I could go downstairs and ask Mr. and Mrs. Bara a few questions I've had and...gah..." He rubbed his eyes and started to stand but collapsed back into his chair. I put one of his arms around my neck and used all my strength to lift him up. The base door opened and Ayako and Yasuhara came in to start their shift.

"Is he okay?" Ayako asked and Yasuhara helped support most of his weight.

"Ya. I think he passed out. He really needs sleep."

We finally got him into bed and I sat in a chair by his bed. "Are you coming Mai?" Ayako asked.

"I told him I'd wake him if anything happened." I said. She looked like she was unwilling to let us be alone, even if Naru was asleep. After a second, she finally left. About ten minutes after Naru was put into bed, he jerked awake.

"It's hot..." He unbuttoned the overshirt and pulled it off then pulled off the t-shirt. I blushed. He kicked off his shoes and started trying to find a confortable position. He was back asleep instantly as soon as he settled down.

I looked down on him and felt the extreme urge to curl up with him. I looked carefully at the door and laid carefully by him on the bed. I laid perfectly still and closed my eyes. I felt his arm go around me and pull me closer. "Are you awake Naru?"

"Hnnh...yes...what are you doing in bed with me?"

"I don't know...sorry..."

"Don't apologize. You need sleep too." I snuggled into him and we both fell asleep in eachother's arms.


	11. THE TALK

**AWW! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS! I THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY KAWAII MYSELF! =^.^=**

**ENJOY THIS NEXT CHAPTER AND AS YOU ALL KNOW, I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT. :P**

Mai's POV:

When I opened my eyes, the last memory I had of the night before was curling up next to Naru in his bed. I had done it, hoping I wouldn't wake him but even though he ended waking up, he didn't push me away like I thought he would. He actually pulled me closer and held me all night. All night? I tried to sit up but Naru's arm had me pinned down.

"Naru. Naru, wake up. We slept all night." I whisered but it woke him right up.

He jerked up in bed, shifting closer to the edge and stared at the room that was bright from the sun shining through the window. "Why didn't you wake me?" I buried his hands in his face for a second but then rubbed his eyes and looked over his shoulder at me.

"Sorry. I fell asleep. Hehe." I laughed awkwardly. "You think anyone else noticed?"

"Considering that it's..." He paused to check his wrist watch. "almost eleven o'clock in the morning, I'd say yes, someone noticed. In fact, I think it's safe to say that everyone noticed."

"Why do you say that?" I asked, confused at the assumption.

He pointing to the door which was cracked open with everyone peaking in, including a murderous looking Masako. "How did you sleep?" Bou san asked with big, overly excited eyes.

"Just great you idiot...why didn't one of you wake us?" He glared at the floor instead of looking anyone in the face.

"We thought about waking you, we really did. You both just looked so cozy that we decided to leave you there and take pictures instead." Bou san said, wiggling his eyebrows. That comment got me to sit upright.

"You didn't..." Naru whispered dangerously and his hand twitched as he eyed the lamp on the bedside table.

"He didn't. Stop lying to them." Ayako said, giving the childish monk a scolding look.

"I suggest you leave Bou san before someone gets hurt. Need I remind you of the book incident?" I said.

My words made Bou san instantly stop smiling. "We'll just leave you two alone." He said with a nervous laugh before shutting the door.

"Mai..." Naru said with the same expressionless tone as he used with anyone else.

"Ya Naru?" I asked cautiously.

Naru looked at me with his compossed, business look. "Last night, I hope you know, was not acceptable and should not ever be attempted again..."

"You say it like it was all my doing. You were awake and you were the one that pulled me closer." I was on the verge of getting really mad.

"I was practically delerious from lack of sleep. I can't be held responsible for my actions..."

I sighed. "Stop being such a jerk. You should be happy. You finally got a full night's rest. Did you dream about Gene again?"

He was taken aback and he stared into the distance in thought. "No...I didn't really dream of anything..."

"So why are you so upset? It's not like we did anything."

He flinched. "That's no excuse. It was inappropriate and you yourself know that if anyone other than our friends had saw us in this situation and they knew my real age, I could go to jail. People make assumtions."

"I don't give a crap about your stinkin' age Naru." I began to raise my voice a little. "I'm going to turn sixteen in about two weeks. If your birthday wasn't a lie then it's quite a while before you'll turn twenty."

"But I will turn twenty. Then it will be illegal by Japan's laws for me to date you without your guardian's permission. You don't have a guardian Mai. So who's to say that it's okay?"

I was so taken aback by everything that I could only manage to speak in a whisper. "You told me yourself last night that you didn't care about age...why do you care now...do you not want to be with me anymore?"

He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them, he opened his arms as well. "Come here."

Afraid but wanting his affection, I crawled into his lap and let him hold me for a moment. "For someone so bright you sure do have your stupid moments." He kissed my forehead. "I never said I didn't want to be with you. All I'm saying is that it isn't really appropriate for us to fall asleep in the same bed. I was being a little stupid last night and...it wasn't right for me to try to pin it all on you...I'm sorry I overreacted..." He averted his eyes as he spoke and focused on a random spot on the wall.

"Ya...you're right..." I suddenly focused on the fact that Naru was shirtless and blushed deeply. "But the whole you being half naked thing is all on you." I said, laughing and reaching down to pick up his overshirt.

He pulled it on with a half smile. "Yes, this would be my doing..."

He stood up, picking me up in his arms and sitting me on my feet. "Go get ready. I really do need to interview the Bara family to know my next step and I need someone to record the conversation. But before that, we'll eat breakfast."

Reluctantly, I left his side and walked to the girl's bedroom. I could feel the eyes of everyone on me as I shut the door. After a quick shower, I pulled on jeans and a long sleeved orange shirt. Slipping on some black flats, I pulled my hair into some hair up and some hair down and snapped an orange clip in place to keep my bangs to the side. I brushed my teeth and ran to the living room, feeling starved.

"So what's for breakfast?" I asked, then noticed Bou san and Ayako were sitting alone in the living room on the couch with just enough space for another person to sit between them.

"We told everyone to go down to breakfast. We have room service coming up with our food." Bou san said, patting the couch between them for me to sit.

Sighing, knowing there was no way out of this, I sat and twiddled my thumbs and stared at the floor. "Is there something you wanna talk to me about?"

"Actually there is Mai. We've contemplated this talk for some time and now that you have a boyfriend, we think the talk is more neccessary than ever." Ayako said in a very serious voice.

I inwardly blanched as the full realization of what conversation they were talking about hit me. "Um...guys? I've been to sex ed class. I've got the picture already. Don't have sex or you'll bleed, throw up, and have a baby."

"Is that really what they told you happens every time?" Bou san looked at me incredulously.

"Isn't it?" I blushed, feeling suddenly dooped. I shook my head quickly. "Wait, drop it. I don't want to know. It's not like I'm sleeping with him..." I whispered, my cheeks getting even pinker.

"Regardless, there are things you need to know in case the situation ever presents itself."

"But the situation won't present itself." I mumbled, blushing.

"Maybe she's right Ayako. Maybe she's too young." Bou san whispered over my head.

"She'll be sixteen in two weeks. Don't argue with me." Ayako scowled at Bou san and looked at me gently. "We're gonna give you a rough idea of what you need to know."

"And than you get a present!" Bou san in a very suspicious tone.

"Shut up, it's not a present." Ayako said dangerously.

"What kind of present?" I asked.

"It's a..." Bou san began but Ayako covered his mouth and began a very brief yet descriptive sex talk that, to be honest, enlightened me.

"Wow..." My stomach began to feel upset and it suprised me.

"Do you think you've got the picture Mai?" Bou san asked seriously. I nodded and he broke out into his normal goofy grin. "Now it's time for your present!" he sat a gift bag in my lap.

I reached in and the first thing I pulled out was a can of mace (pepper spray). "I don't think I'm gonna need this you guys." I said, holding it awkwardly.

"Trust me, you will. Go on and keep looking." Bou san encouraged.

I then pulled out a little square. Oh my..."A c-c-c-condom?"

"Keep looking." Ayako prodded.

The final thing I pulled out was a package of birth control. "The birth control is not to be used as candy or taken unseriously. And you should know that we in no way want you to become sexually active, we just want you to have this for the future. The birth control will also help regulate your..."

"Ok ok ok ok! Too much info!" Bou san began swinging his hands around.

I couldn't help my next reaction. I began to laugh uncontrolably. "I *laugh* I'm sorry *giggle* it's just that you guys are acting just like parents would."

Ayako and Bou san smiled warmly and gave me a big hug. "We do think of you as our daughter Mai." Ayako said gently.

"And as our unofficial spawn, we encourage you to not have sex or we'll have no choice but to nueter your boyfriend." Bou san said with an all too convincing smile.

"H-huh?" I didn't have time to question them further cause the room service arrived. We ate in comfortable silence while watching America's Funniest Videos. About twenty minutes later, everyone arrived back at the hotel room.

Naru regarded me with cautious eyes when he came through the door, obviously afraid of whatever Ayako and Bou san had talked to me about. "Are you ready to interview the Bara's Mai?" Naru asked and I jumped up and met him at the open door.

"Ya. Let's go." Please...before those two try to talk to me about STDs. I all too willingly took his hand and rushed down the hall towards the stairs that led to the second floor.

"What's the rush?" He asked, not trying to slow us down until we were a few feet from the stairs. We stopped on the first step.

"It's nothing." I shook my head, trying to clear the images from my brain.

"What did Takigawa and Matsuzaki talk to you about?"

"Nothing...promise..." The can of mace, the condom, and the birthcontrol suddenly made the purse they were in feel so much heavier.

Naru shocked me by wrapping his arms around my waist and walking us down the stairs with me walking backwards until we were standing in the tiny 3by3 hallway that led to the second flight to the first floor. He backed me into the wall. "Why won't you tell me the truth? I've told you before that I know when you lie."

I blushed. "Please don't question it. It's not important." I wiggled out of his grasp and headed for the rest of the stairs.

"We will talk about this later." He whispered before opening a door right beside the stairs. It was a meeting room and the Bara family was already assembled insided. "Thank you all for taking time out of your day to help with the investigation."

I sighed and sat next to Naru with notebook in hand. I had a strange feeling that today was going to be a very long day.


	12. ATTENTION

**DEAR READERS,**

**THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE IS STRICTLY JUST SO PEOPLE CAN UNDERSTAND A FEW THINGS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE CONFUSED THEM.**

**AYAKO, THE SHRINE MAIDEN HAS THE SAME NAME AS AYAKO, THE GIRL WHO CHEATED ON ALL THE BROTHERS.**

**I AM IN TOTALLY AGREEMENT WITH THE SAYING THAT YOU CAN GET MARRIED NO MATTER WHAT THE AGE GAP. (HINT HINT ;D )**

**AND FINALLY, THIS IS A 'T RATED' STORY AND THOSE WHO ARE AGAINST THERE BEING A TOTALLY NON-DESCRIPT SEX TALK SHOULD CLICK AWAY FROM THIS STORY AND FIND SOMETHING K OR K+ (WHICH I WILL ADD THAT I'VE SEEN SOME PRETTY MATURE K+ RATED STORIES)**

**THANK YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR WONDERFUL REVIEWS. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT MEANS TO KNOW THAT MY STORIES ARE APPRECIATED. I'LL HAVE ANOTHER CHAPTER UP A.S.A.P. EXPECT ONE AT SOME POINT THIS MORNING OR MAYBE EARLY AFTERNOON. THANK YOU GUYS VERY MUCH ONCE AGAIN. **

**DISCLAIMER: I OBVIOUSLY DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT. LOL.**

**~NOSANITY1~**


	13. COFFINS

**AND JUST LIKE A PROMISED, THE NEXT CHAPTER! :)**

**ENJOY.**

Mai's POV:

Even after we interviewed Mr. and Mrs. Bara, we still had nothing we could use to interview the ghosts. After we thanked them, we had their daughter sit next so we could question her.

"Hello Yumi. My name is Kazuya Shibuya from Shibuya Psycic Research. Do you know why your parents asked us to come here?"

She nodded and blushed shyly. "You're here to help us get rid of the ghosts."

"That's right. So how old are you Yumi?"

"I'm seventeen." She smiled and flipped her black hair to the side and began to twist it into a rather pathetic braid.

"And you've lived here your whole life?"

"Yes." She batted her eyelashes but Naru didn't seem to notice and if he did, he didn't seem to care.

"When did you first notice these spirits appearing."

"The first known appearance was by me. I was sleeping and I felt something crawl on the bed behind me and when I turned around, the youngest ghost was staring down at me with really confused eyes. That was back when room C8 was my bedroom. After that, I refused to sleep in there."

I shivered at the thought of that happening and wrote down her response as best I could. Naru looked at me until I stopped writing and then asked the next question.

"Would you say that these ghosts have ever been harmful towards anyone or have ever threatened to cause harm towards anyone?"

She looked like she was in thought for a second. "Not that I can recall. The ghosts have always seemed peaceful. They remind me of little kids. Just want the attention of the girls here. Kinda like they're looking for mother figures."

"As far as we can tell, they aren't looking for mother figures as much as they're looking for the type of girl they would have married if they were still alive." I mumbled. When I finished writing, I looked up to see both of them staring at me. "Oh, sorry. I'll shut up." I blushed and burried my face in the notepad.

"No. It's alright Mai. You're right." Naru said.

"Then why did you stare at me like I shouldn't be talking?" I asked, confused.

"I just assumed that it hadn't dawned on you yet. No offense but you can be a bit slow." Naru smirked but his eyes were joking.

I glared at him. "Well, let's get on with the interview."

"No need. We're done." He stood and so did Yumi. He shook her hand. "Thank you so much for your time."

As soon as she was gone, Naru took the notepad from me and put it in his jacket pocket.

"So did anything they say strike a cord?"

"It doesn't make any sense...it seems that the more we try to go about this the normal way, the less we find out. We've found out more about this case doing unofficial summonings and from your dreams." Naru said, looking deep in thought.

"Maybe my dreams aren't true...Maybe if we took my dreams out of account, we'd be less confused..."

He shook his head. "Your dreams have never proved wrong before. I'm not going to start doubting them now."

"This is just too much. Normally we've just about solved the case by now but instead, we've got a roadblock so big, we can't even find out a remote way of getting rid of them." I sighed, slacking in my chair.

"That's because we won't be able to expell them until we determine where their graves are. Exorcising spirits should never be used except as a last resort. As soon as we figure out where their graves are, we can channel them and try to safely guide them to the other side." Naru pulled me from my chair then and led me from the conference room by the hand.

I thanked my lucky stars that I had worn my jacket because Naru led us right out the back doors into the garden. We walked brisquely to the coy pond and Naru walked around it, looking at the water. All this fish were gone from the pond. Naru pulled out two vials and filled one with the pond water and one with dirt from around the pond.

"We can have Lin do some tests on these and see if there's anything around here that could've poisoned the water." Naru started walking back towards the door.

"...wait!" I finally called and he stopped and turned slightly.

"Yes?"

"Do you think that the ghosts killed the fish as a warning?" I asked softly.

"As a warning?"

"The youngest ghost threatened you. He may have killed the fish as a way of saying, 'you're next'..."

"Mrs. Bara told me in her interview that the coy pond was a very new addition to the garden. And I have a small theory..."

"And what's that?"

Before speaking, he walked back to the pond's edge and took my hand. "I don't think their professional digger dug far enough. In Japan in the time period that these boys died in, the holes were dug an extra nine inches deeper. Graves were thought of as portals to the underword and it was said that the extra nine inches of dirt over the coffin would ward off any evil spirits. Since the ghosts didn't show up till around the same time the pond was dug..."

I gasped. "Their coffins are nine inches bellow the pond..."


	14. NO MORE JEALOUSY

**DUN DUN DUNNNNN! FINALLY WE KNOW WHERE THE COFFINS ARE! PREPARE FOR SOME EXCITMENT! THE STORY HAS ALMOST REACHED ITS END! JUST A COUPLE MORE CHAPTERS! ****ENJOY.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT!**

Mai's POV:

_I gasped. "Their coffins are nine inches bellow the pond..."_

Naru nodded, confirming my accusation.

"We have to tell everyone." I said frantically, my eyes trying to picture the three coffins.

"No need. We heard already." Bou san said with the rest of our group in tow.

"Someone go inside and retrieve Mr. and Mrs. Bara." Naru ordered.

John san ran inside and came back a few minutes later with the older couple. It was safe to say that John san had already told them based on their expressions.

"How could we have not dug far enough...?" Mr. Bara whispered. "The pond is a full six feet deep..."

Naru explained the old tradition to the Baras. "With that being said, we'll need for you to call in someone to drain and dig up the pond so that someone can be called in to dig up the graves." Naru said quietly.

"But that would take thousands of dollars..." Mr. Bara whispered with distressed eyes.

"We have the money in our savings..." Mrs. Bara said gently to her husband.

"But that money is for us if any of us gets sick." He whispered.

We all averted our gaze as the couple debated. Finally, Mr. Bara looked at us and sighed. "Alright. How much do you think it will take total for this?"

"It should only take a couple thousand for all the digging and the transport of the bodies should be covered by your insurance, if not, by the city. The previous people to come here and dig told you there were no bodies and since they did their job incorrectly, you should be able to call them and inform them of that and they might come and do everything for you for free." Naru said.

The couple sighed in relief. "I'll go call them." Mrs. Bara said, walking back to the hotel.

"And then the ghosts should leave?" Mr. Bara asked.

"Yes, they should. Just to make sure, as soon as the bodies are transported off the land, we'll do a cleansing." Bou san offered.

Everyone talked about who should do the cleansing, Ayako or Bou san. It was decided that since Ayako's abilities involved trees, she would cleanse the garden while Bou san cleansed the hotel from room C8. Mrs. Bara came back outside to stand by her husband. "They said they'd come here to properly transport the bodies free of charge tomarrow morning since we paid last time. They even offered to break up the pond as long as we drain it."

"Now that that's settled, I'll go get the electric pump that drains the pond." Mr. Bara said, leaving with his wife.

"I guess this means we'll get to leave tomarrow evening after the twelve hour wait time to see if the cleansing was affective." Ayako said, stretching her arms then crossing them in satisfaction.

"I'm really gonna miss this places food." Bou san sighed, pretending to wipe away a tear.

"I won't miss the restaraunt's tea..." Naru mumbled but no one seemed to hear him but me.

While everyone chatted and Naru stared into the distance, I decided to focus my attention on Lin, who was looking at a notebook. Possibly the one I've been using to record people's interviews. I suddenly heard something behind me. As if someone was breathing on my neck. Their breath was very cold. I then remembered the no one could be behind me. I was standing on the pond's edge.

Gasping, I tried to spin around but my shoe caught on a rock and I began to fall back. As I fell towards the water, I saw the youngest ghost, Kyou, try to reach for me. Splashing into the freezing water, my muscles froze up and I couldn't move for a second. After a moment, my brain kicked into overdrive and I began to frantically swim around, trying to head towards the surface. Right before I reached the surface, I was jerked out of the water.

Shuttering, I clung to whoever had pulled me from the water. It took a second for me to realize it was Naru. "Mai! Are you okay?"

"I-I'm-m j-just-t-t s-s-so c-c-o-old..." My teeth chattered and I felt a jacket being wrapped around me.

"It's fourty-two degrees out here, get her inside." Bou san said urgently as everyone rushed me inside and up to the hotel suite. I was sat on the ground as my jacket and shoes and socks were taken off. Ayako and Bou san huddled over me trying to warm me but it didn't help at all. It's as if the cold was radiating from inside me.

I searched the room frantically for Naru but couldn't see him anywhere. He suddenly rushed into the room from the base with a cup of hot tea. Kneeling beside me, he had me drink the whole thing. By the time I had finished it, I felt much warmer. "Better?" He asked softly.

"Yes..." at least my teeth weren't chattering. I thought I was going to bite my tongue off a few minutes ago.

Shocking everyone in the room, including me, Naru sat the cup aside and pulled me right into his arms. "Don't you ever scare me like that again...you could have died of hypothermia..." Naru said so softly, even I could barely hear him.

"He's right Mai. You need to be more careful...you scared us all..." Bou san said gently.

"I didn't trip. Well, I did but it wasn't my fault. I saw the Kyou. The youngest ghost. He was hovering right behind me and he startled me..."

"He tried to make you fall in?" Naru asked with an angry expression.

"No. I think he was just following me. When I started to fall in, he tried to reach for me."

Mrs. Bara came in the room with a white bundle. "I have a kimono here and a couple towels. It'll keep her warm and she's more than welcome to use the hotel's steam room."

"The hotel has a steam room?" Bou san asked.

"It's a more expensive feature we have. We don't usually have it running this time of year but we're going to start it up for her. It'll warm her up so she doesn't get sick."

Yumi Bara came in and stood next to her mother. "The steam room is ready."

Naru picked me up and walked behind the two women down to the first floor and through a sliding door. Naru sat me on my feet outside of a very solid looking wooden door.

"The steam room is right here. We'll leave you be to get in. You can wrap yourself with one of the towels." Mrs. Bara said.

"Thank you ma'am." She bowed and left with her daughter.

"I'll be back down for you in twenty minutes. Alright?" Naru said quietly, beginning to walk towards the sliding doors.

"Naru, wait." I grabbed his sleeve and he turned back, shocked.

"I don't want to be downstairs here by myself...it's scary in here..." I was refering to the horrible lighting.

Naru looked like he was thinking over my hinted request. I was embarassed to have to even ask. It was inappropriate and he had just talked to me about inappropriate actions. But it was a communal steam room so it wasn't too big a deal. He sighed. "I'll wait outside while you get ready to get in. Tell me when you're done and I'll sit on this bench while you warm up. Hurry, you'll get sick."

Naru stepped out and I quickly stripped and put on the towel. Stepping into the warm room, I kept the door cracked. "Naru. I'm in."

I heard the door open and Naru sat on the bench that I could see through the crack in the door as I sat on one of the steam room's wall benches. After a few minutes, I felt not only warm, but rejuvinated. I kept peeking at Naru from the corner of me eye who looked at the floor in either embarassment or the want to not to be disrespectful and look at me in a towel.

After ten minutes, I decided that I didn't prefer silence. "After we finish this case, winter break will be over and it'll be time to get back to school."

"Yes. Why do you mention it?" Naru asked, momentarily letting his eyes focus on me.

"It'll just be strange to go back to school knowing I have a boyfriend." I blushed and avoided his eyes that were now staring at me intently.

"So you won't be embarassed to tell anyone that your boyfriend is a narcissist?" He smirked as he said this.

"Not one bit. And I don't call you a narcissist much anymore because you hardly ever act like one now. At least not in front of me. Don't get me wrong, you do have your moments."

The steam of the sauna had finally put me at ease and I stood up, ready to get out. "Are you getting out?" He asked, watching me with strange eyes.

"Yes." I whispered and he he stood up imediately, leaving the room. I stepped out of the steam room and changed in the walk space. The white kimono was very warm. It retained all the heat and I crossed my arms for a second to just snuggle to myself. I picked up my dirty, wet clothes and the towels and opened the sliding door. Naru was outside the door, talking with none other than Yumi Bara.

Neither seemed to notice me peeking out the door. Yumi looked at the ground in embarassment. "So...you have a girlfriend..."

"Yes." Naru said softly but firmly.

"I figured...sorry to waist your time..." And she ran off.

I stepped timidly from the room and shut the door behind me. Naru turned to look at my shy face. "You heard?"

I nodded and took his extended hand, letting him lead me to the stairs. "Are you jealous?" He asked after we had made it to the second floor.

"No." I answered honestly.

About five feet from the door, we stopped. "Why?" He asked, looking at me.

"Should I be jealous?"

"No...jealousy just always seemed to be a big emotion for you that you displayed even when you have no reason to."

"I've asked you before, more than once, why you chose me. I didn't get it then and I still don't really get it now but I've decided something."

"And what's that?" He stared down at me and I looked back up at him with full confidence.

"I've decided that I don't care. You're with me and I shouldn't go around questioning it. I know you'll never try to cheat on me. It took you long enough just to confess to me. I don't think I've got any worries." I smiled up at him and stood on my toes to kiss his cheek. When I pulled back, he was smiling.

"Then I guess that means I need to stop being jealous of the undead."

"It means exactly that." I laughed. Naru took my hand and we walked into the hotel room with our fingers laced, this time with no embarassment.


	15. POISON

**JUST WHEN I WAS SURE MY COMPUTER WAS FIXED AND ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH ALL UPDATES, IT BREAKS AGAIN. THIS TIME, MAYBE FOR GOOD. I WILL STILL UPDATE THIS STORY BUT MY OTHER ONES ARE AT A COMPLETE STANDSTILL. SORRY. :(**

*******I HAVE A PROPOSITION FOR ALL OF YOU. IF MY REVIEWS REACH 80 BY THE TIME I FINISH MY STORY, I'LL WRITE A BONUS CHAPTER AT THE END. ALSO, HOW MANY OF YOU WANT A SEQUEL? I FEEL A SEQUEL COMING ON. :D**

**ENJOY.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT SADLY... :( IF I DID, THIS WOULD BE HAPPENING IN THE SECOND SEASON OF THE ANIME RIGHT NOW.**

Mai's POV:

Four in the morning came around the next day and Naru and I began our monitor watch. For a while, we sat in comfortable silence and drank tea. "I can't believe the case is almost over..." I whispered, not wanting to speak too loud so as to not wake anyone.

"It'll be a relief to get away from here. I've had a few calls to handle cases that pay much more than this that I've had to decline them because this case is taking so long."

"What kind of cases?"

"One is a typical haunted mansion case but the caller is willing to pay through the nose to get the spirits out. One is a haunted theme park and they're also paying a lot because these ghosts are causing rides to malfunction and harm visitors. But the last one is what really got my attention."

"And what's that case about?"

"There's a pub back in our hometown in a rather expensive area. The owner called and told me that he had bought the pub a week ago and just when he started to get some business, ghosts dressed in white labcoats started to appear. So far, they're not to keen of the customers and only appear when someone is alone at the pub. Such as an employee being back in the kitchen washing dishes alone and one will appear and such...The idea of scientists being in a pub when there was no recordings of the building being used as a labratory or a research facility...it's just odd...I'd like to look into it but I'm afraid someone else may have taken the case by now."

"And if they don't?"

"I'll call them later this evening after we leave here...you look exhausted." He looked at me with gentle eyes but his facial expression was his usual poker face.

"I havn't been sleeping very well." I had to supress a yawn then.

"If you want...I'll watch the monitors and you can catch up on some sleep..."

I shook my head. "No no. It's fine. I'm okay. I can sleep better tonight in my own bed."

Naru sighed, his eyebrow curving to show minor irritation. He stood up and put one hand under my knees and the other on the small of my back befor lifting me into his arms. He slid the base door open with his foot and started walking for the girl's bedroom. "N-naru? What are you doing?" I stuttered quietly.

"You need sleep..." He slid the room door open with his foot and sat me in my bed by the door. He held a finger to his lips for me to be quiet and kissed my forehead before leaving me with a sleeping Ayako and Masako. I contemplated for a second just walking back into the base like he hadn't just carried me to bed but decided against it, knowing he'd only carry me in here again. Covering up, I suddenly realized how tired I really was. Looking towards the window, I was suprised to see snow. It rained down gently and coated the grass outside the window. Within seconds, I was sound asleep.

As I slowly drifted through my dream, I saw myself travel the hotel suite in spirit form. As I opened the door that led to the living room, I saw Naru. "Naru." I smiled.

He shook his head with a gentle smile. "Not Naru..."

"Gene?"

He nodded and held out his hand. "I need your help Mai...Wake up now and find Naru...stop him..."

"What do you mean? I don't understand..." I could feel myself trembling in fear and I shook my head and pinched my arm, desperately trying to wake. "I can't wake up! Help me!" I looked up to find Gene gone. I ran to the base and slid open the door.

The base had a bright white light shining all around and eminating off everything. Naru sat calmly in a chair, watching the monitors. His tea was on the table a couple feet behind him. "Naru."

He didn't hear me. I waved a hand in front of his face and he continued to stare at the monitor like I wasn't there. In shock and fear, I watched as the bottle of poisoned wine appeared from nowhere and begin to float toward's Naru's teacup. The cork was pulled by an unknown force and the bottle began to slowly tip forward. "No!" I screamed, lunging for the bottle but hitting something unseen and falling back to the floor.

It was then that the youngest ghost appeared, holding the bottle. Smiling evilly, he poured a small dosage into the teacup. "This will teach you to touch my Ayako...die you vile snake..."

The ghost and the bottle disapeared and Naru turned around to pick up his tea. Scrambling to my feet, I tried to grab the cup but my hands went right through it. "No! Naru, stop!"

He took a long drink and I was pulled violently from my nightmare. Jerking up in bed, I sucked in a ragged breath. "Naru!" I screamed so loud that I probably woke the whole hotel. Jumping from my bed, I ran for the base. Sliding the door open forcefully, I nearly died. Naru was laying facedown on the ground with a broken teacup right beside him.


	16. WHITE MAGIC

**WOW! WE OFFICIALLY HAVE 80 REVIEWS! THANKS SO MUCH! WE GET A BONUS CHAPTER AT THE END! AND SO FAR WE HAVE ONE REQUEST FOR A SEQUEL! SEE IF WE CAN GET SOME MORE! AND IDEAS FOR WHAT SHOULD GO ON IN THE SEQUEL WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATED! :D**

**DON'T WORRY. ALL WILL END WELL. I CAN'T STAND IT WHEN WRITERS KILL OFF THE MAIN CHARACTERS SUDDENLY SO I WON'T BE DOING THAT. ENJOY.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT.**

Mai's POV:

_Sliding the door open forcefully, I nearly died. Naru was laying facedown on the ground with a broken teacup right beside him._

Rushing to his side, I forced him to roll over onto his back. "Naru! Naru, wake up! Please!"

I was pulled back by someone and Lin san put his head to Naru's chest and began checking his pulse by pressing two fingers to his wrist. I looked behind me quickly to see Bou san holding me back with tired, worried eyes. "He' just unconcious. Does anyone know what happened? Mai?"

"I think he drank the poison...I dreamed the the youngest ghost put poison in his drink..."

"You fell asleep? Why weren't you with him?" Bou san asked, making me face him.

"He made me sleep. He literally carried me out of the base and practically threw me in the room. I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." I couldn't stop the tears from spilling and Bou san pulled me into a tight hug.

"Ssh...it's okay...He'll be fine. Lin san is calling an ambulence right now."

Ayako and Bou san hugged me protectively as everyone waited in deadly silence.

"What do you mean..." Lin san whispered to the phone dangerously. "I don't care how slick the roads are! This kid just swallowed poison!" He waited while the person on the other end talked. "Rat poison...he didn't realize what he was drinking...yes...no...I understand...we'll do what we can while we wait..." He hung up the phone and started to pick Naru up.

"Someone help him." Bou san said, letting go of me and helping Lin san pick Naru up. "Where are we taking him?"

"To bed. As soon as he wakes up, we need to make him throw up as much of it as we can and the ambulence will be here in about an hour. It snowed a lot and the roads are dangerous. They're trying to get a truck to move the snow and ice away for the drive here. Someone get on the computer. Find out how much time we have to get him medical attention." Lin san ordered.

Ayako left my side and raced to the computer with John san while I stared helplessly at Naru in pure guilt. This is my fault...I should have told him no...

Ayako turned from the computer. "When the brothers drank the poison back then, they drank it in fresh, strong wine. The wine dimmed it. Plus because people then drank water that wasn't clean, they built of a tollerance to poisons. After all these years, the homemade wine took on a water like quality but the poison stayed strong. The way I see it, Naru has forty-five minutes from the point of consumption..."

"The ambulence won't be here for an hour! We have to try something else!" Bou san yelled, exiting the base. Naru was placed in bed with a cold wet rag on his forehead. He had begun to break into a sweat when he was being carried from the base. Bou san helped get off his over shirt and shoes. Lin san came in with a flask of what looked like water.

"What's that?" Ayako asked.

"It's holy water that I borrowed from John san's belongings. I'm going to perform a spell that should take the poison out."

"A spell..?"

"Yes. I've been trained in the arts of white magic. As has Naru..." He shook Naru forcefully but the ebony haired boy didn't budge. "Wake up. Now." Lin san closed his eyes and a bright light appeared from the hand on Naru's shoulder. He took the holy water and poured some on Naru's forehead.

"Sukuna-Hikona, God of healing and purification, descend I pray and aid me in my spell... Blessed be thou, creature made by art. By art made, by art changed. Thou art not cloth but flesh and blood and I name thee life. Thou art he, between the worlds and in all worlds. So mote it be. I ask Sukuna-Hikona to hear my pleas for the well being of Oliver Christian Davis. Heal him. He is in your hands, O great Kami..." 

I gasped as Naru's body began to glow much like it did in the cave when he displayed his powers to us and saved us. He let in a ragged breath and his eyes slowly opened. "What happened..?" He asked weakly.

"The poison is out now?" Bou san asked quietly.

"Yes." Lin san said softly before lifting Naru's head up and making him drink some of the holy water.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I've drank that stuff before and it tends to make a person feel kinda sick." John san said.

"It's just a precaution." Lin san said, setting the bottle aside and placing a hand on Naru's stomach before before mumbling something too softly for anyone to hear. He sat his head back down and stood up. "You'll be fine. You accidently drank a little poison. The youngest ghost put it in your drink."

Naru stared up at everyone with weak, shocked eyes. "I did?" We all nodded and I resisted the urge to run to him and hug him.

"We'll leave you to rest. I'll go downstairs and ask how long before the people come to dig up the pond." Lin san said quietly, leaving the room.

"Get better soon brat." Bou san said gently, ruffling his hair and leaving with a still anxious looking Ayako.

John san picked up his holy water. "I hope no one minds if I take this back. Feel better Naru. Get some sleep."

"Wow, you look like crap." Yasuhara said bluntly before Bou san came in and drug him out by the ear.

"Be nice to kid." Bou san scolded. "He nearly died."

"You're shaking..." He whisperd, looking me in the eyes. He opened his arms and I greatfully sat beside him and hugged him gently.

"I'm so sorry...I shouldn't have left your side..."

"It isn't your fault Mai. It's mine. I should've been more careful. You needed sleep."

"But if I hadn't agreed, you would be fine. One of us would've noticed the ghost tamper with the drink."

"How do you know that? I usually pick up on things like that and I didn't." He wiped away a stray tear and pulled me down to lay beside him. "Everything is fine. I'm just tired."

I tried to sit up. "I can leave so you can sleep."

He shook his head and tried to keep me by him. He was so weak that I could've easily broken from his grasp but I laid down instead. He smiled down at me. "Forget everything I said about inappropriate for now. When I was out cold, I saw myself drifting towards the light and the only thing I could think about was who is going to keep you out of trouble if I go?"

I laughed. "I'd probably step in front of a bus on accident."

"Don't joke like that." He swatted my arm with about as much force as a feather would have.

I laid by his side with an arm drapped over his stomach. "Go to sleep now."

"Since when are you asertive?" He smirked.

"Since now. Go to sleep or I'll get Lin san to search for a tranquilizer."

He shook his head and laughed, then laid his head on mine as I curled up against him.

"Mai..."

"Ya Naru?"

"Sorry for making you worry..." He whispered. I had once that that if I ever heard Naru say thank you, I'd assume he was dying. Hearing him actually apologize, I looked up frantically.

"Are you sure that poison didn't affect your brain?"

He kissed my forehead and relaxed. "Go to sleep silly girl..."

And so we did. While we slept soundly, the case would be solved. Poor Kyou...his Ayako would be in heaven by now from old age. I hope he can find her when he passes on...


	17. THE END

**PLEASE ENJOY THE FINAL CHAPTER OF MAI'S THE ONE! ALSO BE EXPECTING A BONUS CHAPTER! THE BONUS CHAPTER WILL BE JUST A CUTE LITTLE ONESHOT OR SOMETHING! :D**

**ENJOY.**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING... *SNIFFLES***

Mai's POV:

I dreamed of color. Just small dreams that made little sense. I was in a peaceful slumber when I felt myself being shaken awake. I squinted my eyes open to see Naru standing above me. "Mai. Wake up dear. It's time to leave."

I yawned and took his outstretched hand. "You called me dear."

He nodded and smiled strangely. It was different from Naru's normal smile. It wasn't even like Gene's smile. Naru helped me up and started to lead me from the room by the hand. We walked out of the suite. "Wait. Don't we need to pack?"

"I packed for you." He said quickly without looking back. "Hurry."

Something in my mind warned me to turn back and run to the room. Why? I'm with Naru. Or am I asleep and with Gene. It would explain the strange behavior but not even Gene acts this way. "Naru, where are we going?" I asked, beginning to panic as we headed up the stairs to the third floor. I tried to jerk my hand away but he had a death grip on it.

"It's alright..." He whispered and pulled me to the top of the stairs. Throwing open the door to room C8, he jerked me in and headed straight for the window. He let me go to open it wide.

"Naru? What's wrong with you?" I stepped back.

The strange smile came back and his features began to morph. Suddenly, I was face to face with the youngest ghost, Kyou. "It's alright Ayako. We'll be together soon."

"Stay away from me!" I screamed. I ran for the door but it slammed shut. I twisted and pulled on the handle with all my might but it wouldn't budge. "Help! Somebody help!"

Naru's POV:

_I should wake up. I really should. Something is telling me to wake up. I need to wake up now. Wake up. Just open your eyes. But I can't...my eyes won't open. I know Mai has left the bed. I can't feel her warmth anymore. Sigh...ignore it. She's probably packing. But what was that voice I heard? It sounded familiar. Not in a good way..._

_Jerking my eyes open, I sat up and came face to face with my brother. "Gene..."_

_His eyes were frantic. "Get up."_

_"Am I dreaming?"_

_"No. You're awake."_

_"Where is Mai?"_

_"I said get up." he said impatiently._

_Dumbfounded, I stood and he stood as well. He began to fade. "You're disapearing..."_

_"Naru."_

_"Yes?"_

_"Run."_

Mai's POV:

"Stay away from me! Let me go!" I screamed as the ghost gripped my hand and pulled me with all his strength towards the window. "No! Help!"

"Don't be afraid Ayako. We'll be together soon. Forever."

"No! Naru! Help..." The door suddenly slammed open.

"Get away from her!" Naru said dangerously, grabbing my waist and pulled me from the ghost.

"Stay away from my Ayako! Stay away! She wants to be with me!"

"She's not Ayako! She's Mai! My Mai! Get your hands off her!"

"Both of you let me go! You're breaking my arm!" Both dropped me and I hit the ground, holding my arm.

Suddenly, the team ran in. Bou san gasped. "Impossible! We already dug up the graves and cleansed everything! He should be gone! The others are."

"I'm not leaving without Ayako..." He crouched down and began to reach for me when Naru jerked me off the ground and practically threw me into Bou san's unsuspecting arms.

"Leave. There's nothing left for you here. Ayako is dead. She's waiting for you..." Naru said the last part softly.

The ghost's eyes wavered. "Y-you're lying!"

"Ayako lived over a hundred years ago Kyou..." I wiggled from Bou san's grasp and stepped forward, cradling my arm. "She's in heaven by now..."

The room began to take on a red tint and the things around us morphed as what could only be described as rage shone in the confused ghost's eyes. "You're lying! You're all liers! Just like my brothers..."

"Ayako fooled you Kyou." Our Ayako stepped forth. "She fooled you all. You know she did. You saw her kissing your brother and you chose to not face the truth and blaime them."

The ghost clutched his head and screamed. "No! Stop it! Stop it!"

I watched as Naru reached in his pocket and pulled out a wooden doll carving. Ayako's name was carved on it. "Ayako is waiting for you Kyou...don't make her wait any longer..." He then threw the doll out the open window. As the doll was thrown out, I saw the spirit of Ayako fly from the window.

"Ayako!" And Kyou jumped from the window with her. We watched in amazment as the red haze left the room and Ayako and Kyou faded into the air together. When I was sure they were gone, I felt a cold lonliness for the other two brothers. I hope they found someone else to love after death...

"How did you find Ayako's full name Naru? Don't you need their full name to make one of those carvings?" Bou san asked.

"There was a link for another family in one of the articles we read. She was the daughter of the three brother's father's best friend. The two men both owned farms near eachother and often did the selling of their produce together. Ayako and the boys grew up together and always stayed close friends till they all fell in love with her..." Naru answered. "Her name was Ayako Bara."

"Bara?" John san said in shock. "As in, the hotel Baras?"

He nodded. "After the brothers died, their parents sold their land to Ayako's family who decided to turn it into a hotel in hopes of making more money than they would by just farming. Thus, the Baras we know today own it now."

I heard a gasp and it was then that I noticed the Bara family standing in the doorway. "You didn't know?" I questioned. "We talked to you about Ayako in our interviews."

"We knew we were related to an Ayako. But it's such a common name, I didn't think to mention it." Mrs. Bara whisperd, covering her mouth with her kimono sleeve like Masako does.

I didn't realize that Naru was hunched protectively over me until he stood up straight. "The spirits are gone. We'll do a final cleansing in this room and start our twelve hour observation."

"Thank you...so much..." Mr. Bara shook all our hands and Mrs. Bara bowed. Yumi hid behind her mother, staring at Naru from behind pretty lashes. I didn't feel jealous though. Not one bit. Naru wants me...

**~Later Tonight~**

When the final piece of equipment was packed in the van along with our luggage, we all piled into the cars. Bou san and Ayako were already in Bou san's car and Lin was already in the driver's seat of the van. Masako headed for the van but was pulled aside by John san.

"Um...Would you like to ride with me in Takigawa san's car Miss. Masako?" John san was blushing delicately.

"Naru...look." I pointed and we both watched Masako's face turn pink.

She smiled a small smile. "I'd love to."

John san held out his arm and she took it suprisingly. She turned her head as they walked away to stare at Naru in resignment. Yasuhara got into the front passenger seat of the van and Naru and I climbed into the back of it. As we pulled away, I felt Naru take my hand. I smiled to myself.

"What are you smiling about?" He asked quietly.

"Nothing...it's just that...so many people found love on this trip..." I lowered my voice. "All we need to do now is find a couple of girls for Lin san and Yasuhara san."

"To be honest Mai..." He started, speaking even lower than I had. "Lin is too independent and shy to find a girlfriend and I'm 99.9% sure Yasuhara is gay."

I blushed and looked up at Yasuhara. "That's mean. He's totally straight. If you recall, he hit on me not too long ago. And you're just as independent and shy as Lin is sometimes and you found a girlfriend."

"Yes but how many girls do you know out there that will force him to put a clip in his hair and talk about his feelings?" He smirked and kissed my cheak. "And I'd like to think I'm a little bit more outgoing than Lin is."

"I guess you're right. That ego of yours can be pretty loud."

As we drove away from the Guilded Roses Inn, we watched in amazement as two shooting stars flitted across the sky. "You think it's Ayako and Kyou?" He asked me.

"Could be..."

I was glad for Kyou. He had found the one for him. I stared up at the ebony haired boy that held me close. I wasn't sure if I was meant to be with Oliver Christian Davis at all but I was willing to take the time to find out.

**~FIN~**

**IT'S OVER! I'LL PUT UP THE BONUS CHAPTER A.S.A.P! LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT A SEQUEL!**


	18. BONUS CHAPTER

**AHHH! I LOVE ALL MY READERS! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! :D HERE IS THE BONUS CHAPTER FOR MAI'S THE ONE! ENJOY.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN... *SIGHS***

**ATTENTION: (I WILL LET YOU ALL KNOW BY PUTTING AN AUTHOR'S NOTE ON THIS STORY IF AND WHEN THE SEQUEL IS OUT)**

**~~BONUS CHAPTER~~**

Mai's POV:

I'm late! I'm late! Ooh, I am so late! I burst through the door of SPR and threw open Naru's door.

"I am so sorry! I got a phonecall from Ayako and Bou san and they kept me on the phone for half an hour asking me a bunch of random stuff."

Naru smiled like he knew a secret. "What kind of stuff?"

"Like my middle name and my parent's names and my height and weight and junk. A bunch of stuff. I think they were filling something out."

He shrugged, the smile never leaving. "Tea?"

"Uh, ya, right." I ran for the kitchen and started boiling some water. I heard the bell on the front door ding as someone came in. As I was taking the boiled water off the stove, the bell rang again. Maybe I should make more tea. I heard the bell ding again, then again after a second. I pulled out the full eight cup serving set and started pouring tea in each one. Bringing the tray in, I saw Yasuhara and Lin san sitting in the waiting chairs and Masako and John san leaning against the far wall with an affectionate gaze towards eachother.

Ayako and Bou san suddenly came from Naru's office as I gave tea to the people in the reception area. Ayako and Bou san were currently engaged, thus the big ring on Ayako's left hand. They were getting married in eight days. They were smiling and Bou san stretched his arm out for me. "Mai. Why don't you come in here with us. There's someone who wants to see you."

Confused, I carried the tea in with me. Naru was standing by his desk and a man in a very expensive looking suit was sitting in his desk chair looking over some kind of paper. "I'll leave you all to it then." Naru said softly, bowing his head and exiting his office, shutting the door behind him.

I sat the tea on Naru's desk. "Mai. This is Mr. Tanaka. I believe you met him before." Ayako gestured.

"Yes. Hi Mr. Tanaka." He was the man that arranged for me to be able to stay on my own after my father's death.

"Hello Mai. How have you been?"

"I've been good." I said carefully. I hope he wasn't here to tell me I had to go back to an orphanage...

"And the apartment? It's nice?"

"Very. My landlady has helped me a lot."

"That's good...Mai, if I were to tell you that other living conditions were arranged for you, how would you feel?"

Fear clutched me. "I don't want to go back to an orphanage Mr. Tanaka..."

"No no. Not an orphanage. Someone has asked us if they may adopt you Mai."

I blinked. "Who?"

I suddenly felt two sets of arms surround me. "Us."

I looked at Ayako and Bou san in shock. I couldn't stop the tears that welled up in my eyes. "You...would adopt me?"

They both nodded and Mr. Tanaka cleared his throat. "So the choice is yours. The adoption won't be perminate until the two are properly married but as soon as they are, they can sign the final paperwork.

I nodded, trying to wipe away the tears from my eyes. "I'd like that very much..."

Mr. Tanaka slid a paper across the desk. "I'll need all three of you to sign this and a witness as well over the age of eighteen. There will be a hearing in ten days to sign the final document."

I heard the door slide open and Naru stepped in, pen in hand. "I'll be signing the witness line."

The paper was passed to the four of us before Mr. Tanaka folded it and put it in his suit pocket. "I hope you feel that you are making the right decision. All three of you."

We nodded and all said goodbye to Mr. Tanaka. After a few minutes, Ayako and Bou san left as well for work. Everyone from the waiting room congradulated me as well before they themselves left. Lin san went to his office and left Naru and we on our own in his office. "Mai? Are you alright?"

"Y-yes." I sniffled. "I'm just so happy..."

He laughed softly and pulled me into his arms. "I've got a few things for you to file but I'm going to send you home early tonight so you can get plenty of rest for school tomarrow."

"Man...I can't believe I'm starting school again..." I grimaced.

"You'll do fine." He let me go and took one of the teacups from his desk, taking a long drink. "One of these days, I'm gonna watch you make tea. What do you do to it to make it taste like this?"

I shrugged. "Nothing really. I just make it." I watched him sit in his chair and was about to leave the office when I felt someone physically pull me back a few inches. I turned around quickly and Naru was sitting in his desk, reading a book. "Did you just..."

He looked up. "Did I just what?"

I smiled. "What has Lin san told you about using your powers for nonescentials?"

I felt the pull again, this time pulling me right to his desk. He stood up and walked up to me till he was two inches from my face. His arms snaked around my waist and mine clasped around his neck loosely. "I don't know...seemed escential to me..." And then we kissed...

**~FIN~**


	19. SEQUEL

**ATTENTION READERS!**

**THERE IS NOW A SEQUEL!**

**IT IS TITLED:**

**'MAI'S THE ONE: THE SEQUEL'**

**IT SHOULD BE ONLINE ANY MINUTE**

**ENJOY! :D**


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